Sasuke Hunt Down Team: The Fall of Konoha
by amethystcreator
Summary: The sequel for Sasuke Hunt down Team. The Akatsuki are back from the grave thanks to Kabuto, Sasuke has been betrated so he is forced to make a suspicious alliance with Konoha and Hinata is planing the Uchiha's murder to fix her mistakes.
1. Special Assignment in the Midst of War

Hi people, this is the first chapter of the sequel for Sasuke Hunt down Team. Thank you for reading and remember to let me know if you liked it. Thank you for all of you who marked my stories as a favorite, who marked me as a favorite author and to all of you who are following my work, i hope i don't disappoint you with this one.

**Sasuke Hunt down Team: The Fall of Konoha**

**Special assignment in the midst of war **

Thousands of white Zetzus approached the Second Division of the Allied Shinobi forces. Hinata and Neji were back to back performing Eight Trigrams Empty Wall Palm in order to keep the enemies away, such jutsu required great amounts of chakra so they were about to die of exhaustion. Kurotsuchi used her Lava Release to aid them while Karui led the retreat, but the rest of the division predicted an awful end for the war, they were pessimists and had desisted from fighting long ago. The byakugan users and the Tsuchikage's granddaughter were only buying time to escape.

"Lady Hinata…" Neji said gasping for air. "I can keep them busy alone, the clan needs you back at the village. Please, go to the headquarters."

"I utterly refuse to abandon you." She managed to say obviously dizzy. "We will delay the enemy until our comrades are safe." She gave him a tired but sincere smile. The Hyuga boy nodded and continued to repel the white Zetzus. He was suffering too much with that war but will never give up because Naruto instructed him in his way of ninja.

Neji saw his cousin fight fiercely to defend her teammates and noted how much she had changed since their failure in the mission to kill Sasuke, she blamed herself for it and would do anything to fix her mistake.

"Back up is here" Kiba yelled very enthusiastic while Shino sent his insects to eat the enemies' chakra. Hinata was glad to see her friends of the Fifth Division. "You can go now." Inuzuka told softly and smiled kindly to the heiress. Neji smirked knowing Kiba had strong feelings for his teammate. "Let's get going." He said and pulled Hinata and Kurotsuchi with him to follow the rest of the Second Division.

A hawk landed in front of them with orders from Tsunade, The Hyuga girl took the letter and looked at her cousin in disbelieve. The boy did not understand until he read the message himself. "This is not good…" Hinata looked down. "Let's get this over with." He stated emotionless.

Hinata was horrified when she entered the hospital, ninja from every village were agonizing and the medics could not heal them all at once, Tsunade was overworking herself, she had summoned Sakura, Ino and Shizune from the battlefield to aid her and even the youngest apprentices were helping out. "Hinata and Neji go to my office, I have a special mission for you. Wait until I'm not that busy, got it?" The Hokage stopped rushing from patient to patient to inform them. Those words depressed the heiress, her last special mission resulted in a failure and a broken heart.

Both Hyuga waited for an hour until Tenten entered the room. She rapidly hugged Neji and burst into tears. "I heard your division was ambushed and that half of you were killed." She sobbed while Neji gently returned the hug. "It's ok. Everything is going to be over in no time and we can…" He stopped remembering that his cousin was still there. The weapons specialist let go of him and dried her tears. "I thought Lady Hokage summoned me to give me awful news about you." She sat next to the byakugan user and held his hand.

"The protocol says that in case of death only the relevant parties must know." Hinata looked confused but then smiled evilly. "Blood relatives and other important people… a fiancée for example." The Team Guy members gulped and Hinata returned to her innocent appearance. "Of course teammates must be informed first." The girl giggled and the other two smiled nervously.

Lee opened the door and gave everyone thumbs up. "All right, we will go on a cool mission to test our youth." He was hyper as always and everyone envied him for being so optimistic, even in the worst situation he had a smile to cheer his friends up.

After several minutes Sai entered the office followed by Chouji, Shikamaru and Temari. "We ran into each other and figured out that our troublesome Hokage is sending us into another Sasuke related mission. What a drag." The lazy genius said with irony and boredom. "Then why would she ask me to join you if I don't have any relation with the traitor." Temari glared at the Nara boy recalling his words. "Troublesome woman" He muttered while smirking.

"The door is locked." Sakura yelled from the outside. "It is not, you are pushing instead of pulling." Ino yelled her back. "I can't stand this anymore." Haruno destroyed the door with one punch and frowned before sitting next to Sai. "Move Billboard Brow… That's my place." The blond yelled. Both medics were really stressed and everything annoyed them, they needed to rest so badly.

"Why would the Hokage take us away from battle? We were winning." Kiba complained to Shino but the Aburame boy decided to ignore his friend for the first time. "I don't feel like dealing with him." He thought.

Tsunade took a deep breath when she entered her office and after thinking deeply she finally found the appropriate words to inform her ninja of the bad news. "As you know i assigned several Hyuga, Aburame, Yamanaka and Inuzuka clan members to patrol the outskirts of the village, they are supposed to inform me if the smallest insect approaches Konoha's perimeter. They only noticed a single intruder into the Nara's territory." Shikamaru was in shock, that could only be about the Jashinist. "Yes Shikamaru… it's exactly what you are thinking. Hidan is no longer a prisoner, he managed to escape with the help of Kakuzu. They also killed the guards in shift."

"That can't be… Naruto finished him off." Ino trembled at the memory of that green and red eyed monster.

"According to my spies, Kabuto used the Summoning Impure World Resurrection to bring the Akatsuki back and not only them but also powerful ninja who used to be in our side. This will be painful but you must be prepared to hear who our new enemies are. One of them is Asuma Sarutobi." Ino began to cry but Chouji comforted her even though he was equally affected and Shikamaru tightened his fist in frustration so Temari hugged him, suffering for his pain. "Chiyo" Now was Shikamaru's turn to console the green eyed kunoichi and Sakura felt a whole in her heart, she had defeated Sasori with her. "The Fourth Kazekage, not really an ally but it concerns you Temari." The Suna girl gritted her teeth and the lazy genius was not able to do anything for her. "Hizashi" Hinata looked at Neji in desperation. Rage was taking over him so Tenten put her hand on his knee and shook her head with teary eyes, only then the Hyuga calmed down. "Kimimaro, not an ally either but he's your business Lee." The taijutsu expert felt a cold shiver and shook when he recalled his power. "Shin." Tsunade closed her eyes and Sai looked away, he was in pain but couldn't show it. "Sakon and Ukon too." Kiba patted Akamaru with fear. "And Torune." Shino remained emotionless.

"I will take down my father and Elder Chiyo, it is my obligation as a Suna Kunoichi. Tell me their location to part right away." Temari requested angrily.

"Sit down girl… I'm not done yet." Tsunade glared at her until she sat back next to Shikamaru. The Hokage stopped to allow her ninja to assimilate the situation because the worst part was coming. "Kabuto and Madara may have an alliance with Sasuke to destroy the Village. We must expect everything and consider the worst scenario."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Hinata found the courage to ask. "We can't handle the white army, the resurrected, Madara, Kabuto and Sasuke at the same time."

"The Summoning Impure World Resurrection is based on the chakra of the caster so it is improbable that Kabuto alone could summon that many people. He must have a special source of power… if we find it and eliminate it all the resurrected will be destroyed." Shikamaru explained the situation and Tsunade looked away. "What are you hiding from us?" The genius asked suspiciously.

"Anko Mitarashi disappeared while tracking Kabuto." The Hokage confessed. "She has Orochimaru's chakra from the coursed seal and if Kabuto is using her we are lost." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Yamato was kidnaped by him too." The Fifth destroyed her desk with a punch. "He might want to use his wood release to track and control the two remaining tailed beasts." Sakura said with sorrow, her captain was that psycho's victim.

"The Sasuke Hunt down team will be separated in three groups. Shikamaru will lead Hinata, Temari and Kiba to search for Sasuke." Hinata crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you send me for him? I've failed once." The girl remarked. "Because a Kunoichi is the best weapon against a Shinobi and no matter how strong he becomes he is still a man." Tsunade's words shocked the heiress. "That's just what Madara and Sasuke said." She whispered. "A true Kunoichi uses the feminine arts to achieve her goals." The Hokage smirked but Sakura and Ino glared at their teammate. "But I'm not a tool… I love him." She thought with teary eyes. "Neji will be the captain of Chouji, Tenten and Sakura, you will find Kabuto and end the summoning. Finally Shino will guide Ino, Sai and Lee to restrain the White Army. I'll send a jonin team to deal with Madara, and if you find the resurrected try to eliminate them but stay alive."

"So the plan is to capture Madara, Sasuke and Kabuto separately, finish the latter's jutsu to destroy the resurrected and buy time by slowing down their army." Shikamaru analyzed.

"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked worried, she had noticed he was not summoned and wanted to know why. This time Hinata glared at her.

"He is dangerously unstable, that's why I sent him with Killer Bee. Kakashi and Guy are looking after him so he will be fine." Tsunade said with pain. "Go now there is too much work to do, if you succeed in this mission we may guarantee the end of the war." Everyone nodded before disappearing behind a curtain of smoke.

I hope you like it, i already have up to chapter 5 but i'll try to update every Saturday. Thanks for everything.


	2. Deceiving the Deceiver

First of all, I want to apologize for not keeping my promise to upload on Saturdays. I know I wrote I had up to chapter 6 but since I've been very busy I couldn't revise my stories as much as I usually do and you don't deserve rushed chapters, i found some free time but i predict i'll be even more busy. So here I show you what happened to Taka and I hope you like it.

**Deceiving the Deceiver**

"How is the boy doing after the surgery?" Kabuto asked with an evil grin and the eyes filled with murderous attempt. "He is still recovering but he'll be able to use his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in about three or four days, in the meantime I'll keep him sedated." Madara replied growing annoyed by the medic ninja. "Are you done with Anko and Yamato?"

"I've extracted everything I needed from them so it's time for their execution." The genin smirked. "Have you considered my request? I want to know if you would hand the boy to me… I have wanted to kill him since he defeated Lord Orochimaru and I will never forgive him for taking advantage of the pitiful health of my master." He confessed.

"The brat stays here, I need him to substitute Nagato in the Eye of the Moon Plan." The oldest Uchiha crossed his arms over his chest. "I resurrected Nagato so you don't need Sasuke anymore. Hand him over." The medical ninja gave a step forward.

"I have no use for the carcass you brought here because his power is not enough to control the statue." The masked man explained irritated. "But what if the statue rejects Sasuke?" The silver haired man yelled. "Then I will give you the boy." Madara simply said, as if his clan member meant nothing more than a tool.

"Summoning Jutsu: Nagato." Kabuto made the hand seals to call the rinnegan user. Once the coffin appeared the former leader of Akatsuki opened his eyes. "Explain him what you told me about the statue." The genin commanded.

"It will only obey me… no one else can take my place, not even an Uchiha." Nagato said to Madara with a voice as fragile as his body. "How sure are you about it?" The masked man questioned him, he was actually interested in the subject because he wouldn't have to deal with the youngest Uchiha if he was useless.

"Each ninja's chakra is unique, like a signature, and the Statue of the Outer Path was designed to respond to me since I was the one who created it. Besides I don't think the boy will accept the consequences of taking my place. The Statue drained all the life from my body." The Ame Orphan confirmed.

"You got a point, he's pretty stubborn…" The oldest Uchiha pondered for a minute. "Is there a way to use Sasuke's chakra to boost Nagato's power so this poor imitation of an Uzumaki is not destroyed in the process?" Madara pointed at the bony old man.

"Yes, I know a ritual that will work." The medic ninja smirked. "This is the deal, I'll keep the boy until the Eye of the Moon Plan is a success and then you can have him." Madara said as he vanished.

Kabuto sent Nagato back to his coffin and made him disappear. "I don't know if I can wait that long to kill this bastard." He chuckled while approaching his enemy's room. "I'd think it twice if I were you." Sasuke said from the inside. "What do you mean?" The medic said clearly nervous, the avenger was supposed to be asleep, maybe he overheard his talk with the older Uchiha. "If you come closer Madara will kill you, he doesn't trust you and since I am very important to his plan he can't afford to have you threatening my life, so stay away, understood?" The sharingan user warned and Kabuto smirked. "He has no idea." The medic thought.

Sasuke wore bandages over his eyes and felt Itachi's power flow through his body so simple sleeping pills would have no effect on him but his medical procedure had been complicated and he lost alarming quantities of blood. At the end nothing mattered because his brother's eyes gave him confidence in his plan to destroy Konoha soon and to get rid of that annoyance named Kabuto Yakushi. "I just need to be patient until the resting period is over." The traitor tightened his fists.

Someone destroyed the door and put a kunai in Sasuke's throat. "This is what you did to Lord Orochimaru… How does it feel to be defenseless?" Kabuto laughed hysterically. The younger Uchiha was in trouble, his current state made him an easy prey. "I just need to put some pressure in this weapon to see you bleed to death."

A smoke bomb invaded Sasuke's room and a girl pierced Kabuto's head with three shurikens, but he was a shadow clone, then she grabbed the convalescent boy's hand and helped him stand up to walk out of the room. "Only I will kill you." Karin said really angry.

"Why are you helping me?" Sasuke's voice was emotionless. The redhead ignored him and kept walking until they reached a whole in the wall. Jugo took Sasuke out, then Karin followed them. "We must go to Nekobba's shop and our mission will be over." The red eyed girl said to her bipolar comrade.

"We better hurry, I don't know if Madara noticed anything." Suigetsu pressured the team. "That's impossible, I can completely erase my chakra and since that masked jerk is not a sensor he can't tell what happened back there, besides I waited until his chakra disappeared to act." The red eyed girl stumped her foot on the ground and started to walk. "Whatever… thanks for being nice an all that." The mist ninja said with irony.

The journey to Nekobaa's shop was awkward. Sasuke did not talk to his former teammates even though he wanted to know their reasons to save him, Karin's mood switched from angry to sad, Suigetsu walked faster than usual and did not ask to take a break, and Jugo trembled with anger every time he saw Sasuke, which was often due to carrying the traitor on his shoulder.

Karin felt a change in Jugo. The orange haired male started to tremble, he was losing control over his body and his chakra was growing darker. "Calm down" The sensor made several hand signs and put her right palm on her friend's forehead, suddenly the boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then he regained self-control.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked intrigued after hearing Jugo's heart beats slow down. "That was us not needing you." Karin glared at the boy she used to be obsessed with. "Then why did you save me?" The black haired male questioned her but the girl turned around and started to walk. "Catch up with me later." She said before leaving them.

**Flashback**

Karin, Suigetsu and jugo arrived at Nekobaa's shop. The redhead suggested they wait there for their former leader, as far as she knew Sasuke went there when he needed something or when he was injured. The trio approached the abandoned city and noticed a brunette picking up herbs. "Hi, I remember you, you are Sasuke's friends." Tamaki greeted them. "Too bad he's not with you, so can I do something for you?" She smiled. "We came to kill S…" Suigetsu started but Karin smashed his head. "We heard there are some bandits around and we came to offer our protection." The sensor smiled nervously. "Oh, thank you. That is so nice from you but we are not in danger." The brunette put a finger on her chin in a thoughtful gesture as the group walked to the store. "Actually we are worried because Sasuke is in the hands of Madara." Jugo looked at Tamaki with sincerity. "That stupid boy… He should not trust that piece of scum." Nakobaa gritted her teeth when she overheard the conversation. "The last time Sasuke came here his eyes were in a pitiful state and I have no doubt that Madara will take advantage of him. Nothing good can come from that manipulator." The old Lady and Tamaki were at the edge of tears. "I know you may not understand how I feel but Sasuke is like a grandson to me. I knew his family, I helped him come to this world, I suffered the Uchiha massacre with him and offered my home to him but he refused to depend on others, yet I assigned my subordinates to look for him… What a shame, Nekobba is a tough woman but she is crying like a little kid." The old lady looked at her reflexion. Karin felt terrible, she hated Sasuke but couldn't stand to see that scene, and she didn't know what to do anymore. "Is there any way we can help you?" Jugo took a step forward. "You could bring Sasuke back." The old lady joked. "Done" Suigetsu pulled Karin outside with him while Jugo received the details of the mission. "I really doubt we can kill him, besides I feel in debt with him." The purpled eyed male confessed. "What do you mean fish head? You got softer than butter." The sensor glared at the mist ninja. "Don't start with that witch, I know you feel the same." The swordsman glared back.

**End of Flashback**

"We hate you but we owed you a favor because it was you who put us in the same team, besides Nekobaa hired us to bring you back." Suigetsu explained. "How did she…?" Sasuke was interrupted by the swordsman. "The old lady knows you well… she predicted you would want your brother's eyes and that after the surgery you would be weak. Karin monitored the area until your chakra was disrupted, then we made a plan to take you out but didn't count with Kabuto's presence so Karin entered alone, she rescued you and now we are here." Suigetsu took a deep breath after the long explanation.

"Let's keep moving." Jugo carried Sasuke again and resumed the journey. "Hump" The avenger would have rolled his eyes if he could.

When the team reached their destination Tamaki greeted them. "Thank God you are back guys." She smiled and then dropped a tear "Sasuke." She whispered not believing what her eyes saw. "Let's go inside, you need to rest after the mission and dinner is ready." She skipped to the shop. "Put Sasuke on that bed please." The old lady smiled once she saw the teenagers. "Then come to receive your payment."

"We talked about this before… bring him back is the least we could do for you." Karin smiled. "If there is anything else you need just tell us."

Jugo placed his former comrade in the bed and stepped outside. Tamaki sat in the chair next to him with a bowl of soup. "You must be hungry." She blushed and proceeded to feed him. "This would be humiliating if she were someone else." The weakened avenger thought.

"Actually there is something… it's the last thing I ask from you." Nekobaa sighed. "Sasuke's head has a price in every village. I know it's difficult for you but my granddaughter and I can't protect him, would you do that for us? Only until he is completely recovered." she asked almost pleading for she really cared about the younger Uchiha.

"We'll stick around until he is healthy." Karin forced a smile. Weeks before she would have loved to be close to him, but a broken heart was something she wouldn't forgive and the way he stabbed her would never vanish from her mind.

Sasuke appreciated being saved by his former team but did not regret abandoning them when they became useless, plus he had more important things to do than feeling regretful. "How will I burn down Konoha? I have no army, no allies and I can't go alone or the events from my last attempt will repeat… No they won't, my Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan will be the turning tie. I could infiltrate alone and kill the elders to cause panic. Next I will kill Kakashi, Guy, Yamato, Anko, Shizune and Kurenai one by one since they are the most powerful jonin who would never abandon Tsunade's side. My third blow will be directed to the most important clans: The Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Hyuga, Nara, Sarutobi and Akimichi. Then I'll get rid of my former classmates and my final victim will be Tsunade herself..."

"What happened with the Hyuga girl? Why isn't she with you?" Tamaki asked innocently trying to start a conversation but the avenger did not respond. "Hinata…" He thought. "I don't want to kill her but if she gets in my way I won't have a choice."

"We need to talk" Karin stood in front of Uchiha as Tamaki went with her grandmother. "Let's go straight to the point because I don't enjoy your company." She frowned. "Then don't make me waste my time and speak." The traitor responded. "Madara doesn't need you anymore so he will kill you when he has the chance." The redhead warned with satisfaction at the thought of Sasuke being spendable. "Hump… I was the one using him." Uchiha answered with confidence. "I can read through you in this pathetic state, I know you believed in his words. That bastard planned to kill you the moment you became useless, sounds familiar? Anyway, he will come for you when he finds out that you are gone." The girl hissed. "So what's it to you?" Sasuke smirked. "I can't care less about you but Madara will come here and murder whoever is near you, that includes Nekobaa and Tamaki." The red head yelled. "What do you have in mind?" Uchiha gave up, he knew the sensor was right. "A truce with Konoha" She told and the avenger gritted his teeth. "I have a contact amongst them, they will do whatever it takes to get rid of the masked man, even take you back." She explained. "Think about it… there must be something strong enough to make you go back, at least to make an alliance to Kill Madara and Kabuto." She said as she left.

"There are two reasons: Revenge and Hinata Hyuga." Sasuke thought. "It may not be such a bad idea." He smirked.


	3. The End of the Weakest Bond

**Ok I am a big fan of romantic scenes and battles, that is why most of my chapters are a mix of them. I hope you like them and don't get tired of them. P.S: A final warning… Hidan's mouth.**

**The End of the Weakest Bond**

Shino looked at his teammates from head to toes. He was recalling their skills and wondering how to use them to his advantage. "Lee is a specialist in taijutsu, which may come in handy if we are ambushed by the white army. Sai is an ANBU level shinobi, good at performing seals and sending messages. Ino…." The Aburame boy got closer to the blond and stared awkwardly. "What do you want?" She asked hugging herself and backing off.

"I was trying to find a good use for you. Why? Because you are clearly not the best front line fighter, you may even be considered the weakest bond of the team but your spying skills are really appreciated and I've been told that you are a sensor too."

"Yes, I've been training hard with my father." She stated feeling offended by her captain's comments. "You are forgetting I am a medical ninja and…"

"That you are proficient at your clan's techniques." The insects' manipulator interrupted. "I don't know if he's offending me or complimenting me." Ino thought. "My beetles will scout the zone in order to find the white army. Ino, you will walk behind me to detect enemies, Sai and Lee must protect you all time and I am going to be planning how to use your skills as we advance to our target." With that said Shino sent his insects away.

"Don't worry gorgeous… I'm here to protect you." Sai smiled as the girl blushed. "Yea Ino, besides the power of youth will aid us in this task." Lee stated with flames coming from his eyes.

As the team moved guided by Shino's beetles Ino felt Sai's stare. "I can't believe he's looking at me, I just need to put some charm and he'll be only mine." The blond giggled at the thought of them holding hands. "Focus Ino, don't mess this up if you want to prove your value to that Aburame weirdo." She scolded herself.

"Ino" Shino's commanding voice caught Yamanaka by surprise, she almost had a heart attack thinking that her captain could read her mind. "Is it possible to make our enemies attack each other?"

"Yes, Multi Mind Manipulation Jutsu will do. I just have to see a group of people through a rectangle made with my hands and when I release my chakra they will obey me until I break the technique." She explained as serious as never before, she wanted to sound cool to impress her favorite artist.

"My insects located the enemy at the other side of the caves we are about to enter, go to the highest spot you can find in order to target the most enemies you can. The rest of us are here to protect you, understood?" He said giving each member a wireless communicator. "We'll need these." Everyone nodded, put on their radio and kept walking.

The caves were horrible for Ino, she hated dark and humid places but at least she had strong ninja to take care of her. Suddenly the sensor froze. "Shino, I feel three people approaching us very fast, all of them are powerful." She warned her teammates who turned around to face their possible enemies. The captain released his insects and commanded them to scatter, Lee and Sai got to the left and right of Ino respectively.

The enemies were in sight soon, the blond one threw small white balls and made them explode to distract team Shino as the silver haired man attacked the group with what seemed to be a retractable weapon. "Don't let him cut you… he's Hidan." Ino yelled.

"You got a fan girl right here, un." The blond spoke. "That's Deidara." Lee shouted. "And the stupid looking one thinks you're a fucking girl." He laughed and the blond rolled his eyes. "Let's kill them already, I hate to be kept waiting." The redhead muttered and threw kunai knives at the group.

"Danna" Deidara protested stomping his foot. "Fuck! You're so boring, just saying." Hidan sighed. The blue eyed male spitted a clay bird from his hand and made it giant but before it exploded Shino's insects ate it. "Damn" He muttered.

"Your technique is useless against us. Why? Because my insects are eating the chakra you use to detonate the bombs." Shino explained while sending his beetles underground to surprise the enemy.

"Why are my bombs not working?" He yelled frustrated and Shino raised an eyebrow knowing he was being completely ignored.

"I recognize this bitch." Hidan eyed Ino. "She was being a ball in a chain for that shadow user and the copying ninja when they fought Kakuzu and me." He laughed while pointing with his scythe at her. "Kakuzo and I." Deidara corrected. "You weren't even there, stupid liar." The purple eyed male did not understand the message, he threw his weapon and the chain surrounded the blond girl but Sai jumped in front of her and knelt with her to avoid being beheaded.

"If she's death weight why are they protecting her?" Sasori tried to find their enemies' weakness. "Who the hell cares? Fucking Leaf ninja do that all the time." The Immortal threw his weapon once more between the artist and the blond to separate them, he succeeded and rushed to restrain Yamanaka by the neck. "Stab her now, piece of wood."

The red head used his chakra strings to send poisoned kunai knives against the girl. Lee and Shino tried to protect her but they were too late because she had substitute herself for her captor. "I swear I'm going to kill you whore." Hidan gritted his teeth. "Don't be such a girl, you can't die anyway, un." Deidara rolled his eyes. "I'll enjoy seeing you suffer for the poison though."

The boy in green jumpsuit dodged Sasori's defenses and delivered a kick in the head as Shino took advantage of being forgotten and commanded his bugs to suck the chakra out of his enemies, Ino reunited with Sai and Sasori lost his patience. "Destroy the cave, Deidara." The bomber's eyes widened. "What? We are still here un." Sasori rolled his eyes. "We can't die brat." The blue eyed male sighed. "But we can get trapped in the rocks and fail our mission."

"I have strings attached to the ceiling above us, when the rocks fall we'll be safe." The puppeteer explained with confidence. The blond did not lose time, he placed clay bombs all over the cave and Shino's insects could not do anything because the rough ninja used his Explosion release to burn them down. "Art is an explosion." He yelled.

"Piece of wood… Can I keep the hot bitch?" Hidan managed to yell. "Good idea zombie, she may provide us with important information after a little torture." Sasori agreed trying to ignore his comrade's real intention. "I had something else in mind but that's a good idea too." The immortal smirked.

Ino felt the blood drain from her face but Sai squeezed her hand. "I won't let them touch you." The blond nodded still nervous and started to concentrate chakra in her brain to perform mind destruction jutsu. "I need to be useful somehow… I can't be the ball in a chain forever." She whispered.

"Hot? I have not studied the standards of beauty but Sakura is Naruto's definition of hot and Ino is Hidan's definition of hot… I can't determine yet what is attractive but i think I'm experiencing jealousy, which according to the book is a feeling of anger because certain person is attracted to someone precious to you. I do appreciate Ino and want her near me, that might be the definition of love but I must be physically attracted to the woman I love, yet I can't tell if Ino is beautiful until I study that topic." Sai thought. "Feelings are confusing." He sighed.

Lee had problems with Sasori due to the puppeteer's regeneration power, since the redhead was a corpse taijutsu would have no effect on him at all. "His wounds are healing quickly…" Shino desisted from fighting Deidara so he sent his insects to the redhead and began to eat his chakra. "Physical damage will not affect your reanimated body but the lack of power will leave you helpless." Shino confessed. "Secret Technique: Insect Sphere." Soon the enemies were completely covered by insects.

"Blow it all." Sasori commanded and Deidara detonated the whole cave. Shino's insects left their victims to stop the collapsing ceiling and the Akatsuki members managed to escape from the cave thanks to Sasori's strings and Deidara's Hide like a Mole Jutsu. "What about the bitch?" Hidan yelled. "Get her fast." The redhead said.

"Crawl to the nearest exit, my insects won't hold it for too long." Shino warned.

Ino and Sai were holding hands to avoid being separated, the artist sent a mouse to look for an exit but suddenly several shurikens forced them to the ground. "What the…" the blue eyed kunoichi turned her head and watched with horror as Hidan pulled her close to him. "Ino" Sai stretched to grab her hand but she was gone. The last thing the artist saw before the cave collapsed was his comrade crying for help.

"Let me go you idiot." Yamanaka demanded. "I don't think so, you seem to be quite useful." He bit his lower lip. "Pervert, if you don't' let me go I'll…" The immortal slapped her in order to make her pass out. "You didn't have to do that." Deidara glared at him, after all he was in love with a kunoichi and wouldn't want anyone to mistreat her.

"I don't give shit… she was annoying me. Let's fucking go back to the hideout."

Ino woke up in a dark room surrounded by her enemies, a redhead, a blue eyed blond and a perverted-looking silver haired man. She tried to move but the ropes prevented her from doing so, she looked up and found them smirking.

"It is time to get some answers." Sasori whispered at Ino's ear with a kunai in his hand. "Let me do it piece of wood." Hidan pushed the puppeteer and the brown eyed male gritted his teeth, he needed to find a way to punish that disrespectful zealot. The immortal lifted the kunoichi by the ponytail. "Put me down." She cried.

The Jashinist pulled the girl into a steel door and pushed her against it. Ino's back hurt and fell sobbing with fear while the man dragged her to cross the threshold. "We won't need these." He said cutting her ropes with a kunai, then he smashed her against the wall and put her wrists above her head. "Ok, bitch. Tell me what I need to know and I'll be nice to you."

Tears caressed the blonde's cheeks for simply imagining what he could do to her. "I must do something." She thought.

"No answer, huh? You don't leave me other choice but to mistreat you a little." He smirked and threw Ino into the ground, placed himself on top of her and covered her mouth until she couldn't breathe anymore. The girl fought as much as her body allowed her, still the despicable immortal was stronger than her so she stopped moving as his free hand started to wonder over her body. "How disgusting." She thought as she cried more desperately. "Be a good girl and tell me what I want to hear." He ordered removing his hand from her mouth. "Stop touching me." She barked as Hidan rolled his eyes. "Why would I? I can get whatever I want from you and then obtain the answers. Try to enjoy it." He licked his lips and a terrified Ino tried to kick her aggressor. "Think… I am a medical ninja so I should be able to cut his veins and arteries from the inside but he is immortal, then I'll just cut the muscles to immobilize him and his vocal cords to prevent him from calling the others." The kunoichi made chakra scalpel in both her hands and put one on Hidan's throat and the other on his shoulder.

The immortal felt the cold hands of his prisoner and found himself unable to move or talk. "That bitch… what did she do to me?" He thought as Ino bit his hand. "Mind Removal Jutsu" The girl took a small transparent sphere from her aggressor's forehead and then pushed away her enemy's heavy body, then she touched the red scythe. "I'll never forgive you for what you tried to do to me, now your mind will be trapped in your beloved weapon forever." Ino looked at Hidan with disgust. "Gross, now I have to put my mind in your body and act like you." She almost puked but started to heal the cultist. "Mind Transfer Jutsu." The blue eyed girl said when she was done.

Sasori and Deidara entered the interrogation room and saw the blond lying in the ground and Hidan standing next to her, holding his weapon as if it were infected with something contagious. "You didn't" The redhead spoke first slapping his forehead. "Did you at least obtain useful information? un" The Iwa ninja asked. "I went too rough on the slut and she couldn't take it." The immortal excused himself scratching his head. "Too bad… she was hot. un" Deidara looked at Ino's body. "She would make a fine add to my collection if I were aware of her jutsu." The Suna ninja lamented the waste of a potential puppet. "Stop fucking crying about it. Do we have to do something now?" Hidan questioned them.

"We can't talk about it because of the damn cursed seal Kabuto put on us, un." Deidara raised his shoulders with indifference. "I really don't care about it, as long as i can control my own corpse I'm fine."

Hidan made a face of horror but immediately switched to laughter. "Well then, don't fucking let them wait for us." Ino had to drive her enemies as far as she could from the hideout to break the jutsu and escape from the horrible place her body was left, she had no chakra to waste. "I have to check in this jerk's memories." She thought while walking behind the group.

Ino focused to look into Hidan's brain. She saw Kakuzo rescuing him and leading him to Kabuto's hideout, where the blond recognized the resurrected people Tsunade mentioned and other powerful Shinobi. "The Zetzu Army will move underground to surprise the Allied Shinobi Forces… The Akatsuki will be separated to eliminate any intruder who approaches the South and North headquarters… Dispose of Sasuke Uchiha if you see him… The invasion to the Hidden Villages has been postponed indefinitely…"Ino stopped searching for information when the memory traveled to a blond kumo ninja's butt. "Great, this idiot wasn't putting attention during Kabuto's war meeting. I'll just have to escape then, I hope this information is enough." She though with resignation as the group abandoned the hideout.

Meanwhile Sai was using an ink monster to hold the rocks above him, Lee used the 7th gate to avoid being crushed and Shino surrounded himself with his insects. They were alive but lost in the huge cave.


	4. Unexpected Assistance

**I am very sorry for being this late, but I had too much work to do, I went on vacation and when I came back I had more work to do. Actually I do have to study a lot for some tests but I needed so much to revise and write more chapters to relieve stress. Please forgive me and don't forget to review, hope you like the chapter.**

**Unexpected Assistance**

Neji looked around with his byakugan and found a place which made him shudder. It was a labyrinth with several doors, beyond them the Hyuga saw crystal pillars that contained people. "That man is sick." The leader stated after noticing obvious modifications in the bodies. "Looks like Kabuto is experimenting on Shinobi again…"

"We must get all the information we can and inform the Hokage." Chouji walked towards the hideout but Tenten stopped him. "Calm down… There might be resurrected guys, Zetsus and even Kabuto himself. Don't be reckless." The weapons' specialist warned.

"You may even have to fight the Akatsuki." A stern voice alerted the whole team. "Itachi…" Sakura's eyes widened with excitement. "You can talk to Sasuke and make him return to Konoha… only you can make him come to his senses. Naruto told me…" The pink haired girl almost cried. "Shut up Sakura." Tenten yelled summoning several kunai knives. The older Uchiha did not change his expression, he seemed not to care.

Sakura felt dizzy and noticed her environment became a whirlpool. "Do you love my foolish little brother?" Itachi asked calmly after engaging the medical ninja in a genjutsu. "I.. i do" The medical ninja hesitated to answer. "Even after he tried to kill you? Even after you tried to kill him?" The Akatsuki member noticed her doubts. "I… I just…" Haruno's green eyes began to produce tears. "Now I sound like Hinata" She thought. "I already took care of my last words for Sasuke." The ANBU level Uchiha said. "I suppose you can die in peace now." Itachi ended his jutsu.

"Damn!" Neji saw strings rising from the ground. "Scatter around… other enemy is below us." He warned as his teammates jumped away. Kakuzo appeared and grabbed Tenten and Chouji by the neck. "It's just like before… he could have killed Ino and I. This time he is going to eliminate me for sure." Akimichi lost all hope. Neji looked in horror at the sight of his friends being strangled, the byakugan user tried to rescue them but Itachi blocked his way with a fireball jutsu. "I am your enemy." The red eyed male whispered.

"Tenten will be fine." Sakura brushed away her weak demeanor and adopted her usual battle attitude. "I know…" Neji kept his cool and prepared his byakugan for the difficult battle he was expecting.

Itachi was pleased to fight those two, he knew the power of Neji's blood line limit and the super human strength of the kunoichi, they were perfect for his plan. "It's a good thing Kabuto is not controlling the Akatsuki members, I just need to make it look like an accident." The Uchiha thought as he grabbed Sakura by the arm and threw her to the hideout to start a persecution with Neji following them closely.

WWW

"I remember you, fat brat, but it's the first time I see this crying baby." The Waterfall ninja tightened his grip around Tenten's neck. "Little girls should stay home." He laughed. The brunette was enraged, she hated to be underestimated so she placed an exploding tag on her captor's arm and detonated it. Chouji got inspired and expanded all his body to destroy Kakuzu's remaining arm. "No one calls me fat". Akimichi shouted.

"Cover me!" The kunoichi jumped back while summoning a crossbow, Chouji used his giant hands to throw the resurrected aside. The brown eyed girl aimed carefully at the enemy's heart and shot, as expected her arrow hit the target. "I have 4 hearts left." He burst in laughter before releasing five black monsters with masks, one died immediately.

"This is bad, each creature has a different chakra nature transformation and now he has five." Chouji explained. "We can take them down by destroying the masks, though." He added to give hope to his partner who simply smiled. "You have fought him before so tell me what to do." Tenten said as Akimichi blushed at the vote of confidence.

The overweighed ninja gathered all his courage to fight the wind and water masked monsters, he punched the first enemy to get its attention and the second limited itself to attack but the immense body of the shinobi received no damage from water based jutsu. The wind mask's power was meant to slice the konoha ninja nevertheless it was counterproductive, for Chouji shielded himself with the water mask. "Two out of five." Tenten cheered her friend.

WWW

Sakura threw her fists at Itachi but missed and destroyed a cylinder behind the Akatsuki member, who immediately attacked the Byakugan user with a fireball jutsu. Neji's priority was to reach his partner and fight the enemy together, so he evaded the technique provoking more experiment containers to shatter. Once the two were reunited Itachi used his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Amaterasu" Black flames spread all over the hall. "Move, there is a huge room to the North East." Neji yelled as he used Rotation to clean the flames and Sakura nodded but the Uchiha grabbed the Hyuga's hair to smash him against more experiments. "Neji" The pink haired kunoichi gasped but suddenly the sharingan user kicked her stomach so she landed in the North West room. "Itachi, i know you can't control your body because of Kabuto's jutsu but at least talk to me… tell me something, anything to help Sasuke." The green eyed girl pleaded. "I already took care of that." His smooth, yet menacing voice echoed in the laboratory-like room. "I have something else in mind for you and the Hyuga."

Neji moved silently behind the Uchiha and hit his tenketsu, making him fall. It was their chance to escape, yet he refused to move. "What are you waiting for? Lady Tsunade's orders were to flee at the sight of the Akatsuki." The kunoichi prompted her partner. "I saw Yamato and Anko." Neji whispered and Sakura's eyes brightened but most of her hope vanished when Itachi's body disappeared behind a curtain of smoke. "A shadow clone? That man's copy was beating the crap out of us… How do we expect to at least escape alive when we encounter the original one." The medic ninja punched the wall. "Sakura, put yourself together… I have you in a great concept, don't disappoint me. I'll go look for the jonin while you distract your brother-in-law." The Hyuga teased but Sakura seemed oblivious to the joke. "I guess you moved on." He smiled, yet the girl remained silent, as if she were analyzing her own feelings. "Stay alert, I'm counting on you." Neji said as he left. "I still love Sasuke" The kunoichi said to herself, not very convinced.

WWW

"Not so fast… " Kakuzo charged at the brunette kunoichi with several tentacles made of strings. Tenten evaded every blow but one that made her crash with a tree behind her. "Twin Raising Dragons" The girl managed to summon most of her arsenal to stab her aggressor but the enemy dodged easily thanks to almost a century of experience in battle so the kunoichi pulled the strings to manipulate all the sharp objects to strike Kakuzo as she pleased. "You can't kill me, I'm already dead." He yelled as his body regenerated from Tenten's attacks.

"I know I can't kill you… I'm just buying time." Tenten smirked moving her wrist to make all her weapons spin and destroy everything around her, it was the perfect shield and it had a great damage power. The brunette directed her attack to the Wind monster's body and once it was cut apart Chouji stumped in the mask, thus eliminating other enemy. "Three out of five!" She yelled.

The fire mask attacked Tenten, thus melting her weapons. "No!" Chouji rushed to save his comrade from the liquid metal and succeeded, immediately he tried to bring down the last two masks. Tenten lost her favorite weapon but summoned a chained sickle to get a hold of Kakuzu's regenerated arm; however, the Akatsuki member did not lose time and used his tentacles to capture the weapons specialist. "Damn, Now what? I have his arm with my chain, he has mine with his hair, I could cut his threads with the sickle but my arm would be in danger… it's decided." The girl narrowed her eyes and balanced her weapon in an attempt to severe Kakuzu's hold. Chouji noticed Tenten's situation and put his foot between them, allowing the kunoichi to get free in a safer way, then she summoned once again the crossbow to strike the fire mask. "Four out of five!" The girl smirked but her partner started to suspect of how easy was the battle. "Normally, we wouldn't stand a chance against him…" The overweighed ninja stated. "But we are are winning." The brunette pointed out. "Exactly… it's too easy. He'll change to long range form when the last monster is death and we will be screwed, our best bet is to shield ourselves until Neji gives you the order to take us out." Akimichi found the courage to command his partner and felt good about it. "Fine" The kunoichi summoned a huge kunai grenade and used an exploding tag to detonate it, as expected the Earth monster's mask died. "Five out of five, now hide!" Chouji returned to his original size and ran towards Tenten, who summoned a protective dome to avoid Kakuzu's tentacles from above and below.

WWW

Sakura noticed Itachi appear at the end of the hallway so she punched the floor to make him lose his balance, and then she made a hole in the ceiling to bring it down. "If physical attacks don't work on him I'll have to bury him." The kunoichi's eyes widened when she analyzed Neji's jutsu and the way Itachi used a Shadow clone as a decoy. "Chakra Scalpel will do… I bet Ino would never figure that out." The pink haired girl giggled as her hands obtained a blue glow. Itachi appeared behind his enemy and tried to deliver a blow but failed due to the girl's dodging skills, using the opening of the failed attack Sakura touched Itachi's shoulder thus severing his muscles. "That jutsu? Leave it to Tsunade's apprentice to learn one of Kabuto's finest techniques… but I can't allow her to disable me just yet." Itachi used Amaterasu on the surroundings and backed off.

Neji ran through the labyrinth as fast as he could, which was just a little slower than Lee, to find the jonin. The design of the underground facility was complicated but it was nothing that a byakugan user couldn't decipher, the Hyuga reached the only cell in the complex and saw Yamato pail with circles under his eyes, he was not even the shadow of the shinobi he used to be, the sole image made Neji want to kill Kabuto. In the other corner of the prison was Anko, who did not look better than her fellowman. "That sick serpent…" the genius gritted his teeth. "Yamato sensei, Anko sensei, it's time to go back to the Leaf." His words barely made sense into the two jonin, mostly because all the drugs used on them to obtain information. Neji carried both ninja in his sides and rushed for Sakura, hoping she was doing well.

Haruno managed to keep Itachi in one laboratory, plus accidentally destroying everything around them. Neji made his way through the devastated place and urged Sakura to carry her sensei and Anko. "Take them out, I'll take care of Itachi while I instruct you how to find the exit." The white eyed male yelled. "Understood." The girl started to move. "Right, right, left… Never mind, just make an exit." Neji ordered when Itachi used Susanoo. The kunoichi put all her strength in the legs to kick the walls as Neji protected her with Rotation and Air palm. "Tenten, prepare to retreat." The captain commanded his teammate by radio. "Right." The brunette responded.

Tenten opened her giant scrolls and put a hand on Chouji's back making him disappear. "What? Kabuto won't be pleased when he notices his hostages are gone" The waterfall ninja laughed as his brown eyed opponent clashed with Sakura to vanish her and the two jonin. Kakuzu noticed her moving towards Neji so he sent his tentacles in an attempt to stab her, the brunette hugged the Hyuga to escape behind a smoke curtain which was reached by the enemy's attack. "Blood" Itachi noticed. "Looks like I won." The waterfall ninja laughed but his body stopped responding. "Looks like the Byakugan user release chakra needles to target your Tenketsu in the last minute, now your body is useless." The Uchiha shook his head and then glanced at the destroyed facility. "I doubt Kabuto will be able to use his precious experiments for the war or obtain more information and power from his prisoners." He smirked.

Several miles away from the battlefield Tenten and Neji appeared, but something was wrong for the girl coughed blood and her body was severely wounded. Neji looked in horror before prompting Sakura to cure the other kunoichi. "No, don't die on me please. I'm begging you, be strong." He yelled, Sakura never thought she would see the Hyuga genius in such state. "I can't do anything for her, she'll bleed to death in matter of minutes and I can't heal the wounds one by one." The medic ninja pondered for a minute, which seemed like an eternity for the desperate Byakugan user. "Neji, you can release chakra from every tenketsu in your body, right? So hug Tenten to stop all the bleeding at once while Sakura closes the wounds." Chouji suggested. "Brilliant." both ninja said at unison and cooperated to save the weapons' specialist.

When the nightmare was over Neji did not let go of his teammate, he remained there hugging her as if her soul might escape her body at any second. "I want answers" Sakura demanded with a wink. "What is going on here?" Neji blushed and then sighed. "This is not of your business." The pink haired ninja was speechless but then smiled softly. "Prepare to leave once the jonin wake up." He announced and Sakura nodded before leaving the couple to attend Yamato and Anko.

"How did you know what to do?" The green eyed girl asked Akimichi feeling a little stupid as she used mystical palm on the ANBU. "Well, I spent too much time watching Ino study for Lady Hokage's assignments." The boy, who was crushing food pills for the former Orochimaru's student, turned deep red. "Poor Chouji, he still has a crush on Ino but she only has eyes for Sai." Sakura thought. "I wonder if that is how Naruto feels." She smiled sadly at her teammate and started to question her feelings towards Sasuke.


	5. Suspicious Alliance

**Hope you like it. Please tell me what you think about the story so far, thank you. Don't forget to review. If there is any question I would be glad to answer it and if I have any grammar mistakes feel free to point them out but be gentle I'm still learning. Thank you.**

**xxxx**

**Suspicious Alliance**

Shikamaru allowed Hinata to guide the team to Nekobaa's shop, where they could obtain information on Sasuke's whereabouts. The captain spitted the team in two, Hinata and Temari would go several meters in front of the boys, the Byakugan would detect any movement and Kiba's nose would discover anyone tailing them. The shadows' manipulator was thinking of a way to capture Sasuke, the whole Hunt down Team was unable to clear the mission and now they were only four. "Think positive, this team lacks of Naruto's instability and Chouji's hesitation, but makes it up with Hinata's compassion. Yet we have Temari who is analytical and despicable in the battlefield and Kiba whose attacks are merciless but he doesn't think too much to act and that is where I move the balance…" Kibas laughs interrupted the genius.

"I'm sorry I can't stop listening to the girl talk." Inuzuka laughed even louder when he noticed his fellow chunin's glare. "What? They are supposed to be alert." Nara slapped his head. "It's my mistake I should have you going with Temari, prepare to switch partners." The genius announced as Kiba couldn't breathe anymore. "How can you hear them, though?" Shikamaru was shocked when he realized what his partner was saying. "My ears are as good as my nose." The brunette smiled with satisfaction. "I should have known." Nara sighed with boredom.

"There are no enemies or traps in 10 km, according to Hinata." The brunette said. "Your good ears are quite convenient, at least we don't need a radio to communicate." Nara admitted. "We can switch partners to let you rest, the byakugan consumes too much chakra." The leader wrote with his shadow for the Hyuga to take his place. "She is coming now, she is saying that Temari sent her summoning animal to mark the 10 km limit." Kiba informed as Shikamaru started to walk. "by the way, reduce the range of your nose and ears we will need them once we cross the mark." The captain commanded and Inuzuka obeyed.

"Hey lazy, what is your plan to get the Uchiha?." Temari asked as she saw the Nara boy. "Give me some ideas… I've thought about it a hundred times and it's such a drag." The genius crossed his arms. "It's not like me to act without a strategy but since you are here I can rely on you…" Shikamaru looked away to hide his slight blush. "I know I can trust you." The chunin put his hands on his pockets.

The Suna kunoichi felt her stomach compress. "Can it be guilt? Well, I did allow his prisoner to escape." Temari thought.

Both ninja ran for a while more before they spoke again. "I must be sincere… I don't want to lose him for my secret pact with Karin." The jonin took a deep breath. "Shikamaru, I must confess something to you." She said with resolve.

Nara's jaw dropped. "That troublesome woman, we are on the middle of a mission and she wants to talk about feelings… No, it can't be it. I'm jumping to wrong conclusions, when a girl says 'confess' it doesn't mean she'll talk about feelings. I'll change the topic to avoid compromising the assignment but I really want to know what she has to say." The leader thought.

Temari opened her mouth but Shikamaru silenced her. "Focus on Sasuke, troublesome woman, we can't afford to fail again." He decided the mission was a priority.

The kunoichi was totally angry at the captain's rude interruption. "I always knew you were not the gentleman type, but when a woman speaks you listen." She narrowed her eyes; it was unbelievable how easily that lazy chunin could hurt her. "I don't want to hear anything distracting." He was adamant. "How dare you?" The blonde gritted her teeth. "You distract me… I can barely focus when you are around. I keep thinking about 'us' and if I don't pay attention I can't command the team properly." The shadow's manipulator confessed, making Temari blush.

The green eyed girl was speechless, she wasn't expecting such a reaction and she loved it. "Are you talking about feelings in the middle of a mission? You are breaking the rules." She teased him.

"Women" He threw his arms up in frustration. "I just implied I love you and you only think about the rules."

Temari smiled, she loved him too and was gathering all her courage to say it out loud but she noticed something was wrong with the ground she was stepping in; Seconds later the earth collapsed and the suna kunoichi only managed to blow Shikamaru away with her fan.

Hinata rushed to find her friends but it was too late. "Why would someone put a trap right here? We are not even near the shop." The heiress panicked. Suddenly Shikamaru crashed with her. "Didn't see that coming?" Kiba teased, he was right behind them. "You know I did, it was just too fast to avoid." The girl excused herself.

"Temari fell in a trap." Shikamaru yelled desperate. "She is fine I'm looking at her now." The Hyuga reassured her leader. Nara sighed in relief but several kunai knives fell from the top of a tree straight to the whole where Temari was, Shikamaru's eyes widened in horror. "She is still ok. Seriously, you should be aware that she doesn't need protection." Hinata patted his back.

Shikamaru approached the trap and saw must of the kunai nailed to Temari's fan. The girl popped her head out of her weapon and used both hands to move it aside. "Whoever put this trap sure has talent." The kunoichi admitted.

"The enemy is approaching. I recognize Karin's scent and she is with other two." Kiba informed, however, something tensed him. "One of her companions disappeared." The Inuzuka transformed Akamaru in himself and prepared to attack.

"He is still with them, I can see him." Hinata confirmed. "The enemy can liquefy his body and merge with the surrounding water but his chakra keeps flowing through him in any form."

A smoke curtain surprised the team, putting Shikamaru and Temari in disadvantage. "I'm so glad Kiba and Hinata came along." The leader admitted as Kiba took him to the top of a tree. "We'll take care of them." The brunette promised. "Judging by the smoke bomb attack they have no idea who they are dealing with." Nara said, prompting his teammate to take advantage of the situation.

x

Karin was enraged. "Those idiots gave away our location to Zetsu." She was monitoring the area to set traps once the byakugan was deactivated so they wouldn't notice them. She found the white army marauding and wanted to get rid of them, avoiding Temari and her team at the same time. "Now we have to save their butts too." She cursed under her breath. "We could just leave them." Jugo offered. "There is no way we will make it alive without their help, besides the alliance has to start with them." The red head barked. "I already sent Suigetsu to warn them, he won't get hurt if they are hostile to him. We just need to get in time to avoid more Zetsus."

x

Suigetsu solidify next to Temari. "We had an alliance… Why the hell are you attacking us? The target is Sasuke Uchiha." She growled. "Calm down." The purpled eyed male whispered. "We will give him to you alive, but we were not the only ones looking for him, the Zetsu army found us and we have to fight them." He explained and Temari believed him, years of training allowed her to recognize lies from truth.

"Kiba there are too many…" Hinata yelled. She just spotted a new group coming from the south. "I know, they seem endless, and we haven't even fought them yet." The brunette tightened his fists.

"Hinata keep the enemy at distance while Kiba gets Temari, we are retreating." The leader said. "Understood." Both ninja shouted. The heiress started to create her protective eight trigrams sixty four palms to slice the oncoming enemies; Inuzuka, in the other hand, jumped into the hole and was shocked to see the enemy. "What the…" he started but the blonde cut him off. "Just take us out of here, I can explain it." She slapped her head for how silly she sounded. The konoha chunin nodded and jumped away carrying the two ninja.

x

Hinata joined the group moments later. "I lost them… we are safe for now." She panted. "What's the enemy doing here?" He eyes widened at the sight of a muscular, orange haired boy, an annoyed looking red head and a purpled eyed boy with shark-like teeth.

"We are getting Sasuke back." Shikamaru said. Hinata trembled at the thought of being near the Uchiha again, she didn't know if she was happy or terrified. "I don't trust you at all." The leader clarified. "I will summon him now, and then you can take us all as prisoners so we can prove that our loyalty is with the Shinobi Alliance." Karin said offended. "I mean, come on… why would we want to live under a genjutsu for the rest of our lives?" Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

"You are considered traitors just for being with a traitor." Temari narrowed her eyes. "Oh really?" The red head smiled evilly. "Does the rule apply to everyone who helps a traitor?" Karin pushed the sand kunoichi. "It does." The blonde dug her nails on her palms. "Good to know, can I summon Sasuke now?" The sensor smirked. "Go on." The green eyed girl looked like about to kill the person in front of her.

"What is going on here?" Kiba asked Shikamaru. "Two spunky girls meet and you expect them to get along?" The black haired male rolled his eyes.

Karin bit her thumb to put blood on a scroll and complete the ritual, five seconds later Sasuke appeared before them. The Uchiha stood tall and proud, he had bandages covering his eyes, which made him look even more intimidating. Hinata did not say a word for she wanted to stay away from her beloved, she limited herself to back off and let Shikamaru handle the situation.

"I want to make a truce with Konoha." Sasuke went straight to the point. "What makes you think we will take you back?" The chunin glared at him. "You need me to get information on Madara." The Uchiha smirked. "We also need to get rid of a menace named Sasuke." The genius smirked as the genin erased his. "I don't need to discuss this with you, only the Hokage can kill me and she won't do so because I am important to her dear Naruto." The sharingan user was confident. "You should be ashamed of yourself for using Naruto's friendship as a way to blackmail us." Nara was pissed. "but I am not." The traitor smirked again for he knew no one would do anything to hurt the hyperactive blond. "I will take you to Lady Tsunade just so she can decide a way to kill you… and about Naruto, he won't know you died because I will tell him you just escaped again." the Shadow's manipulator ended the argument making his enemy grit his teeth.

As soon as Shikamaru turned his back several zetsus rose from the ground, surrounding the team. "How come we didn't detect them? My nose is the best, Karin is a sensor and Hinata has the Byakugan." Kiba yelled of frustration. "So you are here after all." Sasuke smirked. Hinata blushed and did not respond, she needed to concentrate on the white army. "They produce a spore that feeds from chakra and grow after some time." Karin explained. "Hang on to something, I'm getting rid of these things." Temari used her fan to create a whirlpool and clear the area, unfortunately absolutely everyone was blown away.

X

"This is just great." Kiba said with sarcasm after he landed on a tree, suddenly he heard the voices of a man he didn't recognize and Sasuke, so he rushed to the source of the sound and heard all their conversation, every word enraging him. The Inuzuka got in time to see Sasuke hiding a piece of paper. "You bastard…" the chunin fainted and Akamaru lost his transformation. Sasuke formed Chidori and approached his fellow shinobi with a smirk.

Hinata saw her friend in the ground and Sasuke protecting him from two Zetsus. The Uchiha was just using the lightning as a shield so Hinata destroyed both enemies. "Hinata, be my eyes." The sharingan user made an attempt to remind the heiress about their encounter in the woods but she just cared about her teammate. "Kiba, be strong." The girl said with teary eyes.

Moments later Shikamaru, Temari, Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu found them. "What happened to kiba?" The leader demanded to know from Sasuke. The sensor went to check on the Inuzuka and Suigetsu followed. "Kiba found me and I suppose an enemy attacked him from behind so I used the chidori to protect us. The dog is been whimpering since the attack." The traitor explained but the chunin did not believe him. "Hinata, restrain all the prisoners but Karin." He commanded. "Yes" The byakugan user created a cage with her protective eight trigrams.

The Nara boy went deep in the woods and hit a tree with his bare fist, thus hurting himself. "How can you call yourself a man?" Temari scolded as Shikamaru looked away. "A shinobi knows that he will fail in some missions and more often than not a comrade will die." The girl kept tightening her fists and the leader knew she was right. "Your friend is alive but will not regain conciousness any sooner." Karin interrupted. "Thank you." both ninja whispered with relief. "I'll be with the others if you need me." the red head said noticing the tension. Once the sensor was out of sight Temari spoke again. "You can cry over your mistakes as much as you want but don't expect me to tell you how to behave like a man anymore." the kunoichi gritted her teeth. she hate to see Shikamaru acting weak, it hurt her and it was not like him at all.  
>The chunin took a deep breath, he put his mind at ease and the news about Kiba lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders. He rolled his eyes before approaching the jonin. "A real man takes what belongs to him." He smirked and stole a kiss from Temari.<br>"Finally... i thought you wouldn't be brave enough to do that." She winked.  
>"Now let's go back to konoha, we have a mission to complete and a comrade to heal." He started to walk followed by his team, Temari next to him, Akamaru carrying Kiba and Hinata guarding the prisoners.<p>

**Not much SasuHina but that is because Hinata is debating between trying to be happy with Sasuke and letting someone kill him. **


	6. Breaking the Rules

**Guys, I feel like I'm disappointing you for the lack of SasuHinaness but I just can't focus on them because the story covers several things, as in the first story the SasuHina is saved for last and the best battle too. I'm almost done with the second part, I guess 2 more chapters. Well, thank you for reading and don't forget to review, once again I'm really sorry for taking too long to update (like 3 months) but I hope you keep reviewing.**

**Breaking the Rules**

Shino finally found the exit of the cave to meet with Rock Lee and Sai, he was disappointed of himself but would not demonstrate it for the sake of the team. "We must retreat from now to inform Shikamaru and Chouji of Ino's kidnapping." He commanded.

"I won't go. I promised nothing would harm her… and I failed." Sai looked away. "I am the captain of this team and you must do what I command." Aburame said grabbing the artist by the shirt. "This is something we can't handle by ourselves."

"We can always try." Lee yelled. "Remember the words Naruto learned from Kakashi: Those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

"What did you learn in ROOT about this particular subject?" Shino asked calmly. Sai bit his lower lip before answering. "Abandon your teammate if necessary in order to accomplish the mission." He tightened his fists.

"It's a good thing we are not part of that group." Shino's words shocked Sai, he was willing to break the rules in order to save Ino. "Thank you." The artist whispered. "That's what friends do." The stoic male sent his insects to find Ino and started to walk as soon as they came back. "That's the power of youth." Lee gave them thumbs up and followed his teammates.

After some time Shino's insects located the Akatsuki walking by the border of the Land of Wind. "I see them but Ino is not with them." Sai reacted badly at his captain's statement. "Send your insects to follow them and let's go get Ino." Sai suggested. "Don't tell me how to do my job. Why? Because I know what to do and I already did it." The Aburame boy explained. "Guys… we have a problem." Lee jumped in front of them to kick a kunai Sasori threw at them. "How did they notice us?" Shino tightened his fists.

"We were expecting you to come and get the pretty blonde." Deidara smirked. "Where is she?" Sai yelled. "This dumbass went a little too rough on her so she's death." The bomber explained pointing at the immortal.

Sai lost it and attacked Hidan but he squealed 'release' and fainted, leaving everyone around in shock. "What's with that one? un" Deidara looked ashamed of the girly behavior of his teammate.

"My insects will guide you to Ino." Shino explained and Sai drew a bird to find Yamanaka faster.

"Never mind him…" Sasori threw poisonous gas at his enemies to separate them. Lee attacked him with Dynamic entry but failed to deliver the kick, after several failed attempts the boy in jumpsuit backed off to attack with kunai and to possibly find an opening in the puppeteer's defense.

Shino engaged Deidara in close range combat, he knew the bomber was a long distance fighter as himself and he was risking everything to stop him. "You are not a taijutsu type." The blond made fun of his opponent as he dodged all his punches. "I'm good enough" Aburame held him by the ponytail and placed an exploding tag in his face, detonating it as he backed off.

"All right Shino." Lee cheered him up at the sight of the blond falling to his knees. "That was useless but will give us time to take the other one down." Shino charged against Sasori. Their team work was good; the boy in green jumpsuit distracted the red head while Aburame cut him with a kunai from the other side. "Get back, Lee" The captain commanded as his insects transported exploding tags to both enemies. "Now what?" Lee asked ready to do anything.

"I did not have too much time to think on my next move, so I sent a message to nearby units to aid us. In the meantime restrain the blonde before he regenerates, I'll deal with the redhead."

Lee approached Deidara cautiously. "Art is an Explosion" The blonde stated and detonated himself. The taijutsu specialist barely escaped the impact. Sasori took advantage of Shino's distraction to stab him with a poisoned Kunai. "Art is immortalized." He replied.

x

Sai's ink bird was destroyed by someone unexpected, the emotionless mask of the painter collapsed at the sight of his brother. "Shin… How could you be alive?"

"I'm not. I was summoned from the death to fight this war." The grey haired boy answered. "I can't control my body so do me a favor and kill me please."

"What?" Sai asked incredulously. "If you don't do it the person controlling my body will make me murder you." Shin charged at Sai with his ROOT sword and killing attempt, the artist countered him with his own and the fight started.

"Sai get Ino fast and comeback… we are in trouble." Lee told his comrade by radio. "I'm afraid I have a problem on my own." The pale male answered.

Ino sensed Sai's chakra and saw him fighting. "Mind destruction Jutsu" Ino yelled but Shin kept attacking. "My jutsu is not working on him… I have no idea how to stop Kabuto's jutsu from a long rage." The kunoichi apologized

"We should go back to our team." Sai suggested while drawing an ink bird, he jumped on it and grabbed Ino's hand. "I need you to throw kunai knives at him so he can't stop us."

"Understood." The girl started to attack. "What happened back there?" The painter was truly worried. "I… I don't want to talk about it yet. I'll just tell you that I trapped that idiot's mind in his scythe." Ino responded.

Both ninja arrived in time to rescue Lee and Shino from Deidara's bomb. "Still alive, un." The Iwa shinobi did not seem surprised by Ino's return. "Here's my new puppet." Sasori pointed at Shin and connected chakra strings on his back. "Let me help you with that." Deidara attached a clay bomb in Shin's back and when he finished the puppeteer threw him at Shino's team. Sai was enraged, for the first time his face showed fury. The Anbu level ninja couldn't allow his brother to be treated as a disposable object so he went straight to the enemy with two ink demons.

"Back up will come soon." Shino moved to reach for Sai but Ino instructed him not to do so as she was tending his wounds. "Poison" She said scared. "Don't worry about it, my insects will neutralize it so just stop the bleeding." Aburame stated.

"Why didn't you use Hidan's body as a bomb since the beginning?" Sasori asked. "He is immortal but his body can be torn apart and that would be just disgusting to watch." The blonde sighed but then his eyes widened when he saw the konoha ninja and his creatures. "What?" Sai's attack was interrupted.

A huge cloud of smoke surrounded the area and Deidara saw his partner attack him. "What's the big idea, danna?" The blond yelled but the puppeteer kept attacking him. "What are you talking about, brat?" Sasori said irritated, it was enough to be blinded and he didn't need the Iwa ninja to deaf him. "We are in the same side, remember?" The blue eyed male said. "I know that…" Suddenly the redhead felt an explosion behind him, two more at north and three at east. "That is not Deidara's pattern of explosions, besides I don't see the little clay creatures approaching." Sasori ignored the explosions and looked around, soon he spotted a puppet intending to trap him. "Is that Black Ant?"

"Damn, you got me…" Kankuro cursed and retreated to come up with plan B.

x

"Shino, I can neutralize the resurrected. I've been thinking and my jutsu didn't work with Shin because he is being controlled, I looked in Hidan's thoughts and only the Akatsuki kept their free will. If only I could transfer their minds away or severe their muscles with chakra scalpel, their bodies would become useless." Ino said and the leader put his hand on her shoulder. "That is not our mission, since back up is here we can retreat." Aburame was adamant; he had broken the rules once for her and wouldn't do it again. "You have done enough for now, restore your chakra for the real mission."

"Fine" The blonde whispered and remembered that Sai left. "Where is Sai?" She asked. "I don't know but he knows where are we heading to, so do not worry." Lee winked at the preoccupied kunoichi.

"Kankuro we are leaving it to you." Shino communicated by radio and guided his team to the White Army's location. "Got it, you've done well." The puppeteer said and turned off his radio.

x

Sai went looking for his brother, he didn't want to fight him and he would accept to be killed by him but first he needed to show him the drawing of both of them. Shin had been his only family for many years. "It's the least I can do for him." He thought and found Hidan's body. "You disgusting piece of scum." The artist was experiencing anger, he didn't want to imagine all he could have done to Ino.

"Never lower your guard." Shin said. The resurrected ROOT member was attached on a tree with several chakra strings, he had kunai all over his body. Apparently his brother had attacked Kankuro. "That guy with purple paint on his face is your friend." It was more a statement than a question. "We spent time together in some battles and we created friendship bonds." The artist explained. "I'm glad for you." The gray haired male smiled. "You told him we were brothers, right?" Shin asked and Sai nodded. "He wanted us to talk, he thought that would make you happy." The resurrected said. "He was correct." Sai smiled as he took out his notebook. "I finished it, it's us"

As soon as Shin saw the drawing his body started to dissolve, his soul was leaving this world to rest in peace. "You will always be my family. I died knowing I was important to you but it is time you take your life back and create more bonds to be happy, make friends and find a girl to love." The moribund said. "You were trained to be emotionless but that doesn't mean you can't feel again. To be sincere, I never succumbed to the ROOT training, I was also very happy I died before we had to fight each other." With his last words Shin's body turned into ashes and an unknown ninja's corpse was left in the tree. Sai cried for the first time and prayed for his brother before he decided to catch up with his team.

X

Kankuro was worried, the smoke curtain was vanishing and he didn't have time to execute his plan. "My puppets are enough to handle them but Sasori already blew up my cover." The suna jonin tried to think of a way to win the battle but the enemy surprised him from behind. "Did you seriously think I would be that easy?" the resurrected stabbed the brunette in the chest but it was a substitution, the real one restrained Sasori with his chakra strings.

The smoke faded away completely and revealed Deidara blocking Sasori's attacks. "A puppet?" The blonde realized it was not his friend and the Black Ant trapped him unexpectedly. "Stupid brat" The redhead mentally slapped his head.

"Sasori of the Red Sand, I used to be your greatest admirer and I always dreamt about being like you, but if that means I have to forget the true meaning of being a puppet master then it's not worth it." Kankuro yelled, obviously trying to hide his pain. "You became the tool to someone else's vengeance. Where is the great puppet master I used to look up to?" The sand ninja shock his head.

The Akatsuki member did not respond nor looked at his enemy's eyes. Kankuro's words were true, Sasori was used to be the one in control not to be controlled. "Don't listen to him Danna, your art is great and no one can tell you otherwise." Deidara interrupted the thoughts of the redhead. "Thank you brat for always respecting my art and myself but this time Kankuro is right… I wanted to be immortal and become art but I just became a puppet of someone else." Sasori's body started to vanish. "Deidara, I really admire your art and I'm grateful you were my partner, and Kankuro, I would like you to have my puppets because you deserve them more than anyone." With his last words the legendary Sasori of the Red Sand left the human world.

"Danna!" Deidara yelled. "I'm going to blow myself and I hope I kill you." the blond threatened and started his jutsu but insects started to obstruct the mouths in his hands. "Damn Leaf Ninja and his stupid bugs." He muttered and cut the strings of his chest but the insects were there too so the blue eyed male yelled in frustration. "I'm taking you to Konoha for interrogation." Kankuro started to walk away with his war prisoner. "Thank you Shino." The puppeteer said by radio. "I was expecting him to try to explode. Why? because he did it before and I read his expedient." The Aburame answered. "Can I assist you in anything else?" The Suna ninja asked. "No thank you, Ino is taking care of the white army." He responded and cut their communication.

X

Team Shino arrived at the enemies' location, beyond the caves where they encountered the Akatsuki. Ino started to build up chakra, her hands formed the correct sign to scoop the enemy from a very high point and the words came out automatically. "Multi Mind Manipulation Jutso." The girl smirked and immediately the enemy started to attack eachother, hours later the only survivors were Ino's slaves. "Blend in with the rest of the White Army and wait for my command to attack again." She said and the Zetsus nodded.

"Mission succeeded, we are going back to Konoha." Shino extended his hand to the blonde kunoichi as recognition of her abilities, the girl was initialy shocked but smiled and followed her leader.

X

X

X

**Well this is it for the week, I hope you liked it and leave reviews. **


	7. A Condemned Relationship

**Ok guys, one more chapter and it's over. Hope you like it so far and I accept guesses of who's the person Anko summoned. This is the beginning of the end so enjoy. **

**A condemned Relationship **

Hinata was in the hospital with Kiba when Shino stormed in. Both ninja stared at each other for a moment before the Hyuga heiress shock her head. "What happened? Lady Hokage told me Kiba was in a delicate situation." The insect user said while holding the girl's hand. "He was attacked by the White Army." The girl's voice broke, she covered her face and started sobbing. "Kiba may spend the rest of his life in that bed."

"This can't be." Shino hugged her tightly. "He will recover, Lady Tsunade will come up with a solution and we will help too." The Aburame said, not very convinced himself.

Hinata stood up after several minutes of crying. "I need to go with Sasuke, he saved Kiba's life and I must thank him." The girl forced a smile. "Would you come with me?" She asked for she hated the idea of being alone with the Uchiha.

Their relationship started in a very awkward way. First they were enemies and she was determined to do everything in her power to stop him for the sake of Naruto. Then she fell in love with him… but it couldn't be love, it was too sudden, maybe just infatuation. Anyway love or not, that emotion got in the way of the mission and prevented the whole team from destroying the target. The heiress needed to forget about the Uchiha but now she owed him Kiba's life. "Of course, Kiba is my teammate too." Shino's voice brought Hinata back to the reality.

They were in their way to see Sasuke when Sakura stopped them. "Hinata, Ibiki needs a Byakugan right now." The pink haired girl panted.

X

Koharu and Homura stared at each other with serious expressions until the old woman nodded. "Tsunade is going to regret allowing Sasuke Uchiha to live." She said before taking a sip of her tea.

"That stubborn girl." The man smiled after a while. "I can't deny she is the sole image of Lord Hashirama."

"Yes, he would be very proud of her." The elders agreed but a presence they were expecting interrupted them. "Finally." The ninja said at unison.

"I told you I was going to kill those who planned the massacre of my clan." Sasuke appeared on top of the table facing the old ninja. "I will enjoy making you suffer."

"Are you planning to take your frustration out with us?" Homura smirked. "Since you could not kill Danzo." The man knew that attacking Sasuke's pride was the perfect distraction.

"Hump" The raven haired boy feigned indifference but in reality he hated that Danzo had committed suicide. "Like I care, I will kill you two anyway."

"You can't kill us naïve child." Koharu laughed.

"You see, our strength is not physical anymore but our knowledge in kinjutsu is exceptional." Homura explained. "Once our hearts stop beating a chain of events will lead to your downfall."

Sasuke smirked. "I don't know what you are up to, but there is nothing I can't overcome with my new pair of eyes." The uchiha started to remove the bandages on his eyes but stopped to make fun of the elders. "and I just find amusing that you dare to say I can't kill you."

"We already took care of that…" The woman blinked slowly and Sasuke realized something was wrong.

"We would never give you the pleasure of murdering us and Danzo had the same idea." The man whispered. "Your end is near..." Homura's voice faded and both ninja died.

The young Uchiha tightened his fist and gritted his teeth. "Poison." He glanced at the cups on the table and proceeded to kick them.

X

Ibiki and Ino stood in the interrogation room, they were discussing the medic ninja's memories from Hidan. "That's all I saw, that idiot was not putting attention to the war meeting." The blonde rolled her eyes as the male nodded.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, I was told you needed my eyes." The Hyuga smiled shyly.

"We can begin now, activate the Byakugan and don't miss a thing." The interrogator said and Kurotsuchi appeared from the shadows.

"Nice to see you again Hinata." The girls smiled at each other. "Who are we interrogating?" The pink eyed kunoichi smirked but her smile was erased as soon as Ibiki spoke.

"Deidara. He is a resurrected Akatsuki member and a former shinobi from Iwagakure." Morino's expression was neutral. "You can start now."

"Right." The girl felt a combination of anger and sadness, but her heart skipped a beat at the sole mention of Deidara. The kunoichi entered a dark room with a single light at the center and the resurrected man below it.

"Kurotsuchi?" Deidara whispered almost in state of shock. The last time he saw her she was fighting Kabuto and the odds of her surviving were minimal. "I'm so glad you are ok." He said.

"You…" The girl slapped him hard, she even lifted the chair Deidara was tied to. "You have no idea how much I suffered because of you. Why did you abandon me?" The girl slapped him once more.

"I left because no one understood my art, un." He answered. "Besides, I did not abandon you." He looked away.

"You did… but you could have taken me with you." She whispered with pain.

"You've been raised to be Tsuchikage I couldn't take you away from it, un" He admitted trying to catch her eyes. "plus, you would never leave your grandfather. I know you." He smiled softly.

"I would have left everything for you." She met his eyes but then narrowed hers.

"I wanted to see you… I planned to sneak into Iwa just to pay you a visit and apologize, un." The bomber confessed.

"What stopped you, then?" She laughed ironically. "I know, you preferred the Akatsuki over me, I don't need an explanation for the obvious."

"It's not like I had a choice, un." The blonde sighed. "Itachi Uchiha forced me to join them and once I was in I could not get out."

"I missed you so much." She hugged him holding the tears. "When I knew you had been killed I contained my emotions so my grandfather wouldn't notice I still cared about you. I tried to forget you but…"

"It's too late for everything we want to say to each other, I'm a corpse and I'll be turn to dust once those leaf ninja find the way to do it, un." He closed his eyes.

"I love you and I won't forget you used to love me." She kneeled next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I still do." He whispered and his body started to vanish. The kunoichi rushed to kiss him for the last time and when she pulled out Deidara smiled at her. "Aren't you going to cry?" He teased her.

"I'm not the crying type." She faked a smile and seconds later an unknown man occupied the place of the dead shinobi.

"As expected." Ibiki said. "with the new data we can develop a sealing method for the resurrected." The man turned around and left the girls to discuss the subject.

"Endless sorrow for losing the man you love twice." Hinata looked in horror. "If a strong kunoichi like Kurotsuchi ended up like that… what will happen to me?" The heiress pitied the pink eyed girl who looked depressed and leaned to the ground with en empty expression but still no tears.

"I extracted all the information we needed from Deidara's mind but we needed to study the Summoning Impure World Resurrection." Ino explained but Hinata was not listening. "Here is my report, I must do something important." She said to Ino and rushed out.

X

Anko sat on her hospital bed as she sensed Kiba's breathing become regular. "Yamato… " She called to wake up the ANBU. "The elders were right. The brat is responding and now is our turn to follow orders."

"So it comes down to this…" The brown haired male opened his eyes. "We must gather all the Jonin to let them know the new plan." The captain took a scroll and summoned several ink birds, which took different directions.

"And now phase two." Mitarashi summoned a wood coffin from a second scroll. "She'll tell us what we need to know, only she's been close enough to kill him." Anko smirked.

X

The byakugan user crossed half of Konoha to reach Sasuke but when she turned into a corner she crashed with a familiar blonde. "Naruto? You are not supposed to be here." The heiress looked at her former crush in shock.

The jinchuriki scratched his back and smiled. "Well, I outsmarted B, Guy and Kakashi sensei." He said and his demeanor changed from happy to gloomy. "I heard about your team bringing Sasuke so I came to see him."

"Naruto…" The girl felt bad for him. "Who told you?"

"Someone sent me a hawk with the letter and then I was summoned here." The genin looked down. "Sakura must be happy, I am too, I just… I don't want to talk about it." He stared at the floor.

"Then we can stare at the floor together and not talk about the things that make us sad." The chunin imitated Naruto.

"Sounds good to me." the Jinchuriki took a deep breath and decided to open up to Hinata. "I wanted to be the one to make Sakura happy but I did not fulfill my promise so I have no right to look at her in the eyes." He sighed. "She still loves Sasuke, I never told you what happened at the land of Iron, did I?" Hinata shook her head. "Sakura went to see me and confessed her love for me, she was lying of course, but one part of me wanted to believe her because it is not a secret how I feel about her." Hinata felt sorry for her friend, he was experiencing the same disappointment she felt when he forgot about her after the invasion of Pain. "When Sai told me what she was up to I understood she would never love me. If she was determined to sacrifice her feelings to protect Sasuke I had no chance to win her heart." He confessed.

"I don't think Sakura lied to you." The heiress cupped the blue eyed ninja's face. "I've observed you two since our Academy days. It is true that she was nuts for Sasuke but you awakened feelings she didn't know she had. My conclusion is that she is in denial." Hinata winked. "We do it when we don't want to admit we fell for someone else." The heiress realized her words and knew what she was doing since she started to avoid Sasuke. "and about the promise… He is back, isn't that what you wanted?"

Naruto chuckled. "I also wanted Sakura to acknowledge me, to see that I would do anything for her."

"You knew this would be the outcome… you were aware of her feelings for Sasuke." Hinata touched Naruto's shoulder in support.

"It still hurts, though. I feel…" He was interrupted.

"Empty… as if everything you did for that person meant nothing and that your beloved will always forget you even if you risked your life for that person's sake." She looked at the moon.

"You understand me perfectly… have you been heart-broken?" He asked sincerely worried, ignoring he was the culprit.

"Yes, but he is part of my past and I don't resent him because I knew he loved someone else, I'm happy if he is happy… so I encourage you to let go of the bitter feelings and start again. She'll realize you are the one she loves… I can guarantee that."

"Thank you. You're the best." He kissed her cheek and jumped away.

"Sakura will have a piece of my mind." The Hyuga stood up very angry.

X

Sasuke managed to sneak into his prison cell without being noticed and just then Sakura intercepted him. "I want to…" She started but was cut off.

"I don't want to hear it. I appreciate the words you told me when I left Konoha, but that's it. You only annoy me and you are not worth my time." The sharingan user turned his back to the pink haired girl as her green eyes started to accumulate tears.

"I want to tell you that I will always be here for you, even if you hurt me all the time. I will always care about you because you are an important part of my life." the medic ninja sobbed.

"What happened to the 'I love you Sasuke and I will do anything to make you happy'?" The traitor was surprised by the kunoichi's change.

Hinata stormed in the prison cell, she turned Sakura around and slapped her hard. "How could you say that?" Sakura was shocked and Sasuke was glad the Hyuga was jealous.

"What on Earth is wrong with you?" Sakura hissed.

"You said you loved him and you broke his heart. He loves you, he has risked his life to fulfill the promise he made but you didn't care." The Hyuga stated coldly. "If you are not drowning in a pool of tears is because Naruto gave you hope and did not let you die."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, it was always about Naruto.

Sakura knew Hinata could not understand her. "I was trying to protect him… to make him desist from retrieving Sasuke." The medic ninja was telling the truth but it still felt wrong. "I did not want him to die…" She covered her face.

"You did not want his death to be your fault." Hinata snapped, she never thought she could find the courage to hurt Sakura's feelings.

"Shut up already… you are just angry at me because Naruto will never love you as he loves me." The green eyed girl wanted to hurt her fellow ninja.

"Don't even bring that up." The heiress was starting to lose the battle.

"You confessed your love to him and he completely forgot about you." Haruno yelled but then regretted she did and covered her mouth in shock. "I went too far." She said in a whisper her rival did not hear.

"I said it once but you are always pleading for a little of Sasuke's attention." The Byakugan user yelled back but also realized she did wrong. "I didn't mean to say that."

"Forgive me." Sakura started to cry. "I'm a horrible person."

"I'm sorry, I did something to be uncalled for." Hinata hugged herself. "You should see Naruto, he just came back." The Hyuga smiled as Sakura's expression changed to happiness. "Thank you." The pink haired girl left the room running.

"Finally." The Uchiha extended his hand to the chunin. "Took you too long to come visit me." he said as Hinata got close to him.

"I realized two things, I've been denying my feelings and I will suffer if something happens to you." She thought as she leaned forward and touched Sasuke's lips with hers. "That's my way of thanking you for saving Kiba. You saved him and showed me you still have a heart so I'm hoping you'll reconsider your plans for the future." She said and kissed him again. The Uchiha responded by wrapping her waist with his arms and the heiress caressed his neck. The traitor turned the kiss into a very passionate one but the kunoichi broke it to gasp for air. The ninja resumed the kiss after a second and the caresses intensified until Tsunade cleared her throat to make them acknowledge her presence.

"Lady Hokage." Hinata blushed and would have fainted if not for the Sanin's good news. "Hinata, Kiba is awake and wants to see you… he refuses to talk to anyone but you." The black haired kunoichi hugged Tsunade and rushed to the hospital, leaving Sasuke cursing in his mind.

"Sasuke, follow me to my office." She commanded.

…

**Hope you liked it… Read and review please. **


	8. The Fall of Konoha

Sasuke Hunt-down Team: The Fall of Konoha 10

Hi readers, I have a lot of explaining to do so the **Excuses So You Won't Kill Me** are just this once at the beginning of the chapter.

First of all I want to apologize for taking too long for uploading a chapter, I had a really hard time trying to finish the last details of the rough-draft of the story, mostly because my original outline had too much of everything and I needed to make it clear and go with the flow… and because I was working on **Ace's Second Chance **to refresh my mind. I did not read the manga that much before starting the story, but then I began to read it from chapter one to the most recent. I was so into it that I postponed everything else until I finished it…. It happens a lot, I also started and finish Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Those are my excuses so I apologize… one more thing school and work are to blame too (They are just too time consuming XD damn, I have no shame jajaja)

I just hope you didn't forget about **Sasuke Hunt Down Team** and you still like it.

ENJOY!

**The Fall of Konoha**

Tsunade allowed Sasuke to enter her office, then she closed the door behind her. At this point Hinata should be talking to Kiba at the hospital, far away from Sasuke, not that the Hokage didn't trust the Hyuga but it would be too cruel to let her see the Uchiha die. "So Sasuke, I'm not sure you know about this jutsu that allows a ninja to expel his spirit from his body and replenish other ninja's chakra." The woman recalled Dan's technique with fondness.

"I don't know and I don't care either, tell me what you have to say or send me back to my cell." The Uchiha pitched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. I received an unexpected visit from the elders and they said Kiba would wake up soon, they also said something really interesting, the problem is that they were found dead moments later, which means they used their last breath to contact me." The Hokage glared at the young ninja.

"So they kept their promise, my downfall starts the moment they die." He thought. "How unfortunate." Sasuke said with sarcasm. "I still don't know why you think I care." He sighed as Tsunade clenched her fists.

"Because they told me you were there to kill them." The woman destroyed her desk with a punch and sent one half towards the Uchiha but he dodged easily. "I promised Naruto I would not kill you but this is enough, he'll move on sooner or later but I won't allow you to live and take the lives of my ninja." She shouted and a battle to death began.

Hinata arrived to the Hokage's office and stopped right at the door. "It's time to give closure to this whole mess… it'll be over soon." The girl suppressed her tears as she heard the sounds of a battle. "Hinata, Sasuke tried to kill me because I heard his plan to destroy the village." Kiba's words echoed in the heiress' mind but that was not it. The Inuzuka also gave her a warning and it was up to her to stop a massacre on her beloved village. "Three scrolls that will assure Sasuke's victory." Hinata hissed. "I won't allow it, I've also made arrangements."

Tsunade attacked with an endless storm of kicks and punches, each blow left a crater on the floor and walls, Sasuke did his best to dodge and at the first opportunity he had he removed his bandages. He was having some trouble dealing with the old woman but he didn't want to use his powerful new eyes yet. A kick smashed the wall behind him, just above his head and that prompted him to throw his body to the left, where Tsunade punched giving him a small opening to roll and move as far as he was able to. "Damn woman." The Uchiha managed to mutter but a new storm of punches forced him to back off. However those attacks were slower so Sasuke got the upper hand and threw a kunai to the Hokage's head. "By the way, I took the liberty of restocking my ninja tools in your storage." He smirked but it faded right away as he coughed blood.

"Surprised? I can produce small electric discharges, powerful enough to kill at a short distance, but my moves slow down." She narrowed her eyes at Sasuke's discomfort.

"So old dogs do learn new tricks." He spit some blood and realized it was time to use his trump card. "Now prepare to die." Sasuke took a scroll from his shirt and made the hand signs for a Summoning Technique.

"Lady Hokage, Black Zetsu gave three scrolls to Sasuke in order to aid him in battle…" She felt tired for no reason and snap out of it when Tsunade scolded her.

"What do you think you're doing here? I want you as far away as possible. "The blonde ninja spat making Hinata bow down to apologize. Suddenly the Hyuga felt her chakra draining and saw a white lump growing from her shoulder. Sasuke passed by the heiress and ignored the instinct that told him to help her. Instead he focused on the Hokage, who was surrounded by several growing white masses, and drew a sword.

"Sasuke, please don't." Hinata pleaded but her cry fell on deaf ears, for the traitor's weapon stabbed the Hokage in the stomach, and if it wasn't enough he sent an electric discharge to finish his work. The heiress released her chakra to kill her parasite and reach for the older woman, but before she could be of any help Tsunade healed herself while removing the blade. A difficult task indeed.

"I'm not done yet. How arrogant of you to think you can beat me, a Hokage." Tsunade was infuriated beyond her limits and her powerful punches reflected it. Once more she speeded up to take advantage of any flaw in Sasuke's defense. As expected the traitor had difficulties keeping up with the sanin, it was a matter of time for him to get killed, one mistake could mean his death. It was time to use his new eyes.

"Amaterasu" The traitor smirked as the black flames closed on the Hokage. In few seconds the fire would touch her and she would be incinerated after agonizing minutes. Tsunade let out a scream that pierced Hinata's ears, if she was going to help that was her chance.

"Rotation" The heiress used a renowned technique of her clan to counter the Uchiha's jutsu. According to Neji, Amaterasu cannot burn chakra and once it was surrounded by that energy it would consume itself. "You have to kill me first to get to her." Hinata was determined to protect the Hokage but she froze when her Byakugan reached the streets of the village.

Almost every ninja was a victim of the Zetsu Parasites and the fully grown ones were attacking everything that moved. It was a massacre. Instinctively Hinata looked for all her friends. Neji and Shino were protecting the entrance of the hospital. Shikamaru was heading to Kurenai's house and Temari followed him close. Ino freed Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu to fight off the white army. Chouji teamed up with Lee. Sakura was lying on the ground and Sai was reaching for her, but Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly the heiress saw something that made her think that not everything was lost. She just needed to buy some time.

"Sasuke, surrender now please. You'll have a fair trial and I'll use the Hyuga's influence to spare your life. I swear I'll be by your side every single day of your imprisonment and I'll commit to you in body and soul after you are freed." The chunnin's heart rate increased, as much as she hated to admit it she meant it. However, it was too naïve to think that Sasuke's offences would be forgiven.

The Uchiha was caught off guard, he did not expect that and in a way he didn't want Hinata to say it since that would force him to hurt her once more. By no means would he abandon his revenge. "Tempting… but no. I'll keep going as far as I must to achieve my goal."

"Then face the consequences." Hinata closed her eyes, deep inside she wanted a different answer, but her original intention was to buy time and she did. Two hands appeared from the floor and grabbed Sasuke's ankles. Then pink fog covered the room, soon after a silhouette appeared behind the traitor and stabbed him with a kunai. Sasuke managed to escape his aggressors by jumping towards a wall, however, another ninja awaited in the shadows and kicked him back to the floor with incredible strength. The last person approached Tsunade and started to heal her.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, and Guy." Sasuke growled, ignoring his wound. They were a distraction, his priority was Shizune since he could not afford to have her heal Tsunade. Immediately after making up his mind he went after the younger medic ninja and she answered by throwing senbon which made Sasuke change his route and slam against the wall, which had paper bombs in strategic places. Once Shizune detonated them a cloud of smoke covered the office, what was left of it to be exact.

Guy opened the 6th gate to fight Sasuke with taijutsu since it was his specialty and the jonin was more than capable of fighting a sharingan user without falling for genjutsu. Kurenai and Kakashi waited for their chance to attack, which came when Guy kicked Sasuke against the floor. The boy stood up quickly, seconds before Kurenai could reach him with a kunai yet she did manage to make him inhale poisonous gas. "I'm immune to poison, Orochimaru made sure of it." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"I know you won't die, but can you move?" The jonin laughed. As she expected the Uchiha's movements slowed down, which allowed Kakashi to use Chidori on his former student. The intensity of light the attack produced blinded the whole group for a moment, enough for Sasuke to play his trump card… out of the blue a huge skeleton appeared, it began to take form rapidly and in less than a minute it was complete.

Hinata felt uneasy by the new negative energy and noticed that in the streets all the sensors were falling to their knees. If she felt dizzy the sensors were agonizing, the heiress saw Ino and Karin struggling to get on their feet so Suigetsu had to fight twice as hard to protect them both, also it didn't help that Jugo went berserk.

"Susanoo." The jonin-level ninjas cursed under their breaths, they were expecting it but not so soon. "It's time to execute plan B." Kakashi backed off, prompting the others to follow. "Guy, wait for Lady Hokage to recover and then aim for the torso. Kurenai, create a distraction for me to weaken the armor." He ordered.

"Mr. Kakashi I have something important to tell you. The scrolls, don't let him summon anything." She yelled but her voice was drown by Susanoo's attacks. The giant made attempts to smash Sasuke's enemies but they were fast to dodge and the Uchiha didn't allow him to destroy the place since Hinata was still in the office. Due to Sasuke's hesitation Kurenai found time to place and detonate paper bombs around the giant, then Kakashi used Kamui to create a whirlpool but it was in vain for Sasuke backed off and started a counterattack.

Unexpectedly Susanoo drew his sword and passed it over the heads of his enemies. With the help of the weapon the jonin struggled to stay away from the giant's grasp and Tsunade could hardly move so only a miracle could save them. In the meantime Kakashi performed a water attack to slow his movements yet it was counterproductive since Sasuke defended himself with an electric discharge. The next to fight was Kurenai, her genjutsu would not be effective but she could at least be a distraction, the woman made trees grow from the floor and walls until they surround Susanoo. "Pitiful…" Sasuke started, then he analyzed the situation and realized someone else would attack him while he was finishing off Kurenai.

"Feel the power of the beautiful beast of the Leaf." Guy started with Dynamic Entry, it hit Susanoo in the back. "My youth is not to be taken for granted." He continued with a Leaf Hurricane directed to the giant's head. Sasuke growled to represent his annoyance.

"Guy, don't overdo it yet. Wait for…" The Copy Ninja was interrupted by Susanoo's fist smashing against him. Guy reach out to help him and the other hand sent him to the floor, With the two males down, Tsunade and Shizune unable to fight due to the healing process, only Kurenai and Hinata were left to deal with the Uchiha, so both women made a battle stance.

Sasuke prepared Susanoo to attack the jonin and then leave, suddenly he felt that something was wrong, he could not make his humanoid move an inch. "Now what?" He cursed under his breath, nothing should go wrong with Susanoo now that victory was within his grasp. Suddenly the Uchiha felt a dangerous chakra behind him; it was a fully healed Tsunade eager for revenge. "Just stay dead, will you?"

"Not a chance, dammed brat." She yelled ready to punch Susanoo directly in the stomach, Guy joined her opening the 8th gate. Much to the traitor's frustration his enemies managed to crack his defense, and as his ultimate choice Sasuke had to dispel the humanoid to escape the jonin. The problem was that the young Uchiha was dangerous even without Susanoo so Kakashi had to do something before he was ready to fight once again.

Hinata glanced at the door and then nodded, she took a deep breath and rushed towards Sasuke, there was only one chance to get a hold of him. "I can't let you go." The heiress hugged him tightly, expecting something horrible to happen. Sasuke, on the other hand, froze for the girl's sudden action. A second later, when a wooden spear stabbed them both, he realized what she was scheming. "I made arrangements to stop you… in the hospital I made Yamato promise to stop you no matter what, he was reluctant to accept but I'm glad he honored our agreement, now give up or you will die for that wound." The heiress smiled weakly after coughing blood.

The traitor was enraged by Hinata's reckless behavior. "And to think fools like her would go to this extent to protect this filthy village." He growled after placing the girl on the floor and jumping to the window, then he took out the second scroll. Suddenly an unconscious Karin appeared from a cloud of smoke. Sasuke bit her on the wrist to recover all his power, such action left Karin barely alive but he did not care for he casted her aside when he was done. "The scrolls are useful indeed, I can't wait to use the last one… but now it's time to find out who is affecting my Susanoo." Sasuke thought and started to create his giant humanoid. At the same time the boy looked through all the enemies and found someone hiding behind the office's door, the ninja started making hand signs the moment Sasuke summoned Susanoo. "That's the culprit, I see Anko didn't waste her time while Kabuto kept her prisoner. A jutsu to stop Susanoo means that Kabuto has an ace under his sleeve in case Madara betrays him." The young Uchiha smirked as he dismissed an incomplete Susanoo, then he charged at Anko with Chidori and put her out of combat.

The Uchiha started to feel his goal closer, he had called Susanoo twice, used Amaterasu, Chidori and other techniques he was infamous for, so it was the time to end the battle. The boy used Amaterasu to surround the building. "The fall of Konoha, this is my Victory." He proclaimed and left towards the stone heads of the previous Hokages, where he could witness all the destruction he caused before using the Third Scroll and culminate his vengeance.

To Be Continued


	9. The Truth of the Outer Path

Sasuke Hunt down Team: The Fall of Konoha 8

Happy Saturday, I hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy this chapter and remember that the story was created before the manga got this far so bear with me.

Enjoy!

The Truth of the Outer Path

Sasuke stood tall over the stone heads as he contemplated his victory. The Village Hidden in the Leaf burned slowly to the ground, each one of the idiotic Konoha ninjas were being killed one by one, and once he summoned the Third Scroll the village that forced his brother to murder his kind would be eradicated from the map, thus cleaning the Uchiha's name forever. The self-proclaimed avenger took out the scroll and stared at it for a long time, this is what he wanted all along and yet he could not stop thinking about Hinata. He was not hesitating; he just wished they could have had a different end. After recovering from his moment of weakness, Sasuke made the proper hand signs in order to activate the scroll.

A flash of light, followed by blue electric discharges, blinded the traitor momentarily; smoke rose from the stone heads and an inhuman cry announced the arrival of a horrible monster, the Statue of the Outer Path. The huge humanoid towered over the impressed Uchiha, who felt a sudden drain of energy that sent him panting to his knees. Another shock stroke Sasuke, and Madara, Zetsu and Kabuto approached him. "Good boy, thank you for using your chakra to bring the statue and us." The older Uchiha said sarcastically.

"You said the scrolls did not require Chakra." Sasuke spat at Zetsu. "The Scrolls work with your energy, my hand signs are just the trigger." The boy struggled to stand up, his energy was in red numbers since the Statue used great amounts of Chakra, and on top of that he was used as a tool to teleport Madara to Konoha. Such thing was unnecessary since the older Uchiha could do that and more, that was just a way to piss off Sasuke.

"I'm sorry young Sasuke, if I had told you the truth you would not have accepted Tobi's help." Zetsu tilted his head to the right. "Now be a good sacrifice and grant Tobi his dream, to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan." The plant-man stretched his hand towards Sasuke but the boy backed off and prepared to flee. However, a third drain of energy made him fall.

Sasuke did not have enough energy to move, as a matter of fact, he did not have enough energy to even feel frustration. His breathing slowed down as well as his heartbeat, his vision blurred and in his ears Madara's voice rumbled. "Don't leave so soon, I haven't even explained your role." The masked man sat next to the boy. "You are our much needed sacrifice. Zetsu made some special scrolls, the first two consume an insignificant amount of chakra so you didn't notice when they took a sample for the statue to recognize you. The Third Scroll, obviously, was meant to bring me and the Statue to you, creating a link between us in the process." At those words Madara patted Sasuke's head. "Part 1 is done. Now for the second part I will connect you at the back of the statue so your life is slowly consumed by it."

"Good luck with that, I'm almost dead." Sasuke smirked.

"Kabuto is here to extend your life as long as we need it to complete the Plan." Madara rejoiced in Sasuke's glare. "As I was saying, you'll be in the back of the Statue as I go to its head and summon the jinchuriki, I need their chakra signature to inhibit the tailed beasts' energy, once I fuse them I'll become the vessel of the Ten-Tails and submerge the world in an eternal Genjutsu, therefore the people will only know peace."

"Naruto and Killer B's tailed beasts are missing, and you don't have Gaara to suppress the One Tailed Shukaku." The young Uchiha wanted desperately to find a flaw in Madara's plan.

"I kidnapped the Nine Tails a while ago, some annoying kunoichi tried to get between us but I got rid of her. As for the Eight Tails, I captured him while he was looking for Naruto. I also took care of Gaara yesterday. Honestly, why did the Akatsuki had so much trouble collecting those three?" Madara sighed. "Now, let me give you a present, this is what your third drain of Chakra summoned." The masked man lifted Sasuke's head by the hair to show him Itachi. Sasuke's eyes widened, after so long he could talk to his brother once more.

"Don't get too excited, he is a resurrected who follows my orders." Kabuto grinned as he signaled the other coffins. "Do you want to see who else you recognize? There are some members of the Sound 4, some ninja of your dear village and more, they will make sure no one interrupts the Eye of the Moon Plan."

"I can't care less what happens to the world, I want to talk to my brother." Sasuke growled in annoyance. He could not believe his powerful brother was reduced to a puppet, such an offence would be punished. If Sasuke ever escaped his captors he would make sure to make Kabuto suffer for every second he manipulated Itachi's body.

"Take him to the sacrifice place." Kabuto commanded and Itachi complied. The resurrected moved forward to carry his little brother to his death.

Meanwhile in Konoha, Tsunade and her 6 jonin rose from the ashes of the building. Lucky for everyone Hinata used her **Protective Eight Trigram Sixty-Four Palms** to cover her superiors from the flames. The girl looked around her and saw devastation, some buildings were on fire and corpses and injured surrounded the streets. "Lady Hokage, allow me and the Hunt down Team to go after Sasuke, I know we can stop him this time and if we don't we can buy you time to reassemble your troops and attack him." The heiress pushed the Hokage, she knew it was going to be difficult to convince Tsunade, there was no way the woman would allow them to reduce the man power of the Village during a crisis, but she had to try.

"Shizune, get the medics and treat the wounded. I want everyone ready to attack the statue as soon as they can stand." The Hokage barked. Hinata backed off for the initial shock but took Tsunade's reaction as an approving one.

First of all Hinata had to find Ino, she would be the mental link to communicate the new plans. Using the Byakugan that was not a difficult task, Suigetsu was carrying an unconscious Ino away from the prison grounds. The heiress went after her friend while she located the rest of the team. "Tenten, Kiba, Neji and Shino are still at the hospital. Sai is trying to wake Sakura by Ichiraku's Ramen. Chouji and Lee are fighting Zetsus at a restaurant. Naruto simply vanished and Shikamaru and Temari are… with a baby?" The heiress blushed but snapped out of it quickly enough.

The Yamanaka girl was awaking when Hinata found her. The heiress knelt beside her friend with a worried expression; she had seen all the sensors fall because of Sasuke's dark energy. "I'm ok Hinata, thanks for caring." The blonde smiled weakly after reading Hinata's face. "Sasuke is behind this, isn't he?" Ino looked down as the heiress nodded.

"I told you." Suigetsu barked. "That bastard did it, he also took Karin. You are my witness Ino, Karin was taken against her will, she couldn't even move."

"The Hokage saved her life." Hinata smiled sweetly. "Our primary concern is to gather the Hunt down Team and complete the mission we've failed twice. Ino please use your skills to call everyone." The Hyuga changed her tone to a serious one.

Ino nodded and localized all her friends, one by one she communicated the emergency situation and the rendezvous point. Tenten was the first, the girl was recovering from serious wounds and despite that she stood up and left the hospital. Kiba followed her after receiving the message, his wounds were not as severe but his chakra was low. Neji was guarding the hospital's door when Ino filled him in, the jonin left his post to other ninja and headed to meet his cousin. Surprisingly, Ino did not forget about Shino because the insect user moved in direction of the prison. Midway to the rendezvous point Chouji and Lee joined the other four teammates.

"You huge forehead, get your hands off of my Sai." Ino's voice reached Sakura, who was distracted and jumped for the cheap scare. "Madara kidnapped Naruto and you stepped in to protect him but you were knocked unconscious?" Ino read her best friend's mind. "I'm sorry, now can you please get your hands off of my Sai?" The blonde's eyebrow twitched as Sakura rolled her eyes.

Sai got the message on the most loving way possible. "Sai, something horrible is happening and I'm in such distress so we need to meet near the prison. I want you to comfort me." The Yamanaka girl sobbed and Sai nodded, always happy to help the capricious yet sweet girl. He still had to tell her he found her physically attractive and that she was a precious person to him. According to his book those confessions lead to dating. Of course Ino read his mind and blushed but didn't say anything.

"Shikamaru, Temari, you look adorable but give back Little Asuma to Kurenai and join me by the prison". Ino giggled while reading the minds of her friends to find out how they ended with Kurenai's child. She found out that the jonin asked them to protect Asuma during the invasion so she could attend the call of the Hokage. It was a cute moment, Shikamaru blushed for the vote of confidence and Temari bowed in gratitude, but Ino had to return to reality. "We have a mission and you are in charge." The blonde imitated Tsunade's voice, much to Hinata's relief. If there was someone who could keep her spirit up during a tragedy that was Ino.

Thirty minutes later the team was ready to charge at the stone heads, rescue Naruto and hopefully kill sasuke, but unexpected allies joined them. Kurotsuchi was done grieving for Deidara and her new goal was to tear off every single limb of Kabuto, the miserable man who brought her beloved back from the death. Suigetsu and Jugo wanted to take revenge on Sasuke for using and abandoning Taka, he also wanted to take him back to Nekoba. Karin was fully healed by Tsunade and joined her friends with the resolve to pay her debt to Konoha in order to disappear. "Shikamaru, allow us in your team. We want to fight as much as you do." Kurotsuchi clenched her fists.

"It's troublesome but fine, the more we are the better chances of surviving." The lazy genius smirked and then turned to Temari. "Did you manage to contact the others?"

"Yes, we will have their cooperation." Temari answered with confidence, since she managed to contact powerful ninja with Ino's help. "Hunt down Team, I expect you to be ready to go, we have wasted enough time already." The girl ordered while Shikamaru muttered 'Troublesome, bossy, overbearing and spunky woman'.

The group was quiet on their way to the stone heads. The distance was short but the way seemed endless, it wasn't until Shikamaru spoke that the tension was relieved. "Expect the unexpected? Forget that crap. Don't expect anything." Those words confused the group. "If you expect the unexpected you develop a strategy and anything that happens will catch you off guard, because whatever unexpected thing you are expecting to happen will not happen and you strategy will be wasted. On the other hand, if you don't expect anything, nothing will catch you off guard and you can create a strategy from scratch." The group was freaked out, only Shino nodded in understanding.

"And that, lazy boy, is why Gaara gets to do the motivational talking." Temari winked and every ninja laughed, even Shikamaru he could not believe his troublesome woman. Suddenly the laughs stopped, that's when the genius realized they were standing on the stone heads, Hashirama Senju's head to be exact and the Statue of the Outer Path was on Tsunade's.

To Be Continued

**Excuses so you won't kill me:**

The Deidara and Kurotsuchi thing= I love that couple but there was nothing romantic on the latest episode. Since on the manga Daidara's soul is released there won't be a canon interaction with Kurotsuchi T^T. I can only hope to get more on them from flashbacks etc… but if they are related I will keep my promise and delete **The Pursuit of Art and its Consequences**.

Shikamaru's weird speech = Yea, I thought Shikamaru would look cute saying that and Temari making fun of him.

Ino = I know the village is in crisis but Ino has the important duty to cheer everyone up.

I can't think of anything I would want an excuse for… so if you have questions I'll be glad to answer. See you next chapter XD


	10. Specters of the Past

Sasuke Hunt down Team: The Fall of Konoha 9

Happy Sunday and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the delay. I can't write our beloved ninjas' ordeals because I have an ordeal on my own called Homework, but I will update as soon as possible.

"**The plot of this story was created before the manga got this far"**

Specters of the Past

Shikamaru kept his cool even though he felt that something was different about the atmosphere, it felt deadly and the blood lust was almost palpable. With a single wave from his hand he alerted his comrades, who backed off immediately. The genius called Hinata with a sign to request the use of her Byakugan on the stone heads, the result of the search was the identification of an unusual structure. Several bones were approaching the group from underground. "The enemy is trying to impale us." Shikamaru, as well as Hinata, dodged the first wave of bones. The other members of the team had a more aggressive approach. Sakura punched and kick the exposed bones, Lee joined her with his youthful taijutsu, and he was also determined to warn her about the identity of their foe. As soon as 'Kimmimaro' escaped Lee's lips Sai animated several birds to carry the team to safety. The bone projectiles kept rising from the stone until Kurotsuchi flooded the area with lava. They all knew it was not over, it had not even started.

Jugo jumped off of his ink bird to face Kimmimaro. The orange haired boy wanted to end the misery of his beloved friend, for he could not imagine the suffering of being called from the death to be used as a tool and witness the decadence of the world. "You promised to keep me caged so I would never hurt anyone. Now I it's my time to promise that I will set you free from this curse." Jugo closed his eyes as if he were praying. "Show yourself and let's fight." He yelled. Suddenly, Kimmimaro sent countless bone projectiles toward his friend. Rock Lee responded to the attack with Leaf Hurricane and landed safely next to Jugo. Both men exchanged looks and made a silent agreement to fight for their friends. It was a youthful gesture and Guy would be proud. Seconds later the resurrected ninja rose from the earth, displaying his sharp bones. Kimmimaro's expression was blank but his movements were deadly. Lee and Jugo charged towards the enemy and a deafening sound echoed in the arena as they collided.

"What is the plan?" Temari demanded to know. She trusted her lazy genius but she felt uneasy, something about women's sixth sense. Shikamaru stared at her with a frown. He could not see her, for he was calculating every move of Lee's battle. "Those two will defeat the enemy so focus on our mission." She scolded the chunin. "What is the plan?" She pushed.

"We will fight the resurrected as they appear in our way. Obviously the Statue must be in a fragile state or else Madara would not have the need to protect it. I assume that Madara himself is vulnerable, but that's a dangerous bet. Our primary concern is Kabuto, if we take him out the resurrected will not be a problem." Shikamaru mumbled.

Kiba grew tense after sniffing the air. He recognized the scent of the enemies that almost killed him and Akamaru, Sakkon and Ukkon were approaching at fast speed. The Inuzuka growled in annoyance, seconds later he used Fang Over Fang to strike one white haired boy with purple lips. Kiba attacked fiercely because he would never show mercy for that particular enemy. Almost three years passed and Kiba was adamant on his feeling towards the twins, pure hate. The Inuzuka and his loyal companion would be death if not for Kankuro, but now he had the chance to redeem himself. "Hey trash, are you ready to fight me?" Kiba imitated Sakkon's language and Akamaru growled to make it more intimidating.

Karin had her eyes closed to sense allies and enemies with more clarity. She was doing her job by serving as radar but she had no intention to fight, she had had enough of violence for the rest of her life. Suddenly, an unusual chakra signature approached the group; it was similar to Suigetsu's but it had some scary traits in it, actually it was really scary. The sensor shivered down to her knees. "Suigetsu… someone is trying to imitate your chakra. It's cold and awful, it's hardly you." She braced herself as she warned the team. Suigetsu smirked because he had something to make fun of Karin, however, his plans stopped when a blade cut between them. The Ink bird vanished and forced them to the ground.

"Yea, that's my brother. Looks like I get to fight for the title of 'the best' and keep the swords." The white haired man smirked while cracking his knuckles. "Look Karin, you won't see another fight like this in ages." He bragged but Karin was trying to assimilate Mangetsu's sinister chakra. Seeing that Karin was not paying attention Suigetsu decided to start the battle, but he realized that he did not recover the Executioner's Blade. Therefore, he was in deep trouble.

"Damn, we just lost a sensor. Ino, I know you are struggling too but I need you to double your efforts. Hinata and Neji let me know if you see any anomaly. Tenten, you must launch kunai grenades at my signal. Shino, are the insects you sent to the Statue back?" Shikamaru gave commands back and forth.

"Madata is in the middle of a circle created by nine ninja, Naruto and Gaara are among them, Killer B is also there. I assume this because he is alive, unlike the other six." Shino responded calmly but Temari's insides filled with rage. "Kabuto is transferring his chakra to Sasuke, who seem to be agonizing. Itachi is guarding them. Unfortunately, my insects do not see anything more. There is one resurrected I want to fight because it is my duty to my clan and village." Shino requested after giving vital information. Shikamaru nodded and the insect manipulator left.

Shino prepared himself to face a taijutsu expert. This Aburame clan member had the ability to poison by touch, such task required great physical abilities and dodging skills to spare innocent people and teammates. Shino's strategies could increase his rate of survival to 20% and that was good enough if he could immobilize him. The insect manipulator had to think quick to evade the touch of his enemy, who appeared out of the blue. The combination of Root training and lack of personality was dangerous during ambushes. "I came to defeat you. Why? Because your rare talent must return to our clan. It's been exposed for too long." Shino adjusted his sunglasses as a cloud of insects surrounded the area.

"Shikamaru, I see unusual chakra movement. A person extended its chakra to 10 puppets." Hinata informed. Temari and Sakura cursed under their breaths, they knew Chiyo was the enemy. "The resurrected is moving fast toward our location. I suggest we spread or we will not reach the Statue." The heiress prompted her leader.

"Sakura and Sai, take care of Lady Chiyo. The remaining team will move forward." The medic ninja hesitated to obey but Sai pulled her arm and jumped to the stone head. Shikamaru's Ink bird flew away from the area. "We will certainly deal with Amaterasu so I need Neji and Hinata as our main defense. Ino, I want you to follow the location of every enemy and ally. Chouji, Temari and Tenten, your destructive power is crucial in this mission, you are in charge of destroying the Statue."

"I'm afraid we cannot follow your plan. My father has been released from his coffin, but he is not the only one. Asuma and the 4th Kazekage are charging against us." Neji clenched his fists. The Hyuga boy knew that Kabuto was toying with their emotions because the medic ninja had so much information of the group. The Chunin Exams and Yamato's interrogation were perfect chances to study them and forming part of the Sasuke Hunt down Team made them predictable.

"Neji, this is personal and the least effective way of dealing with our enemies." Shikamaru massaged his temples. "We'll be annihilated if emotions get the better of us." The genius looked back and forth for a solution but his own interests were at stake. The realization hit him. That was exactly what Kabuto wanted, no one was obeying Shikamaru. The Nara boy gave the order but his team would fight whoever they wanted anyway. "Neji, I'm modifying the plan of action." He turned to Ino. "I need you to contact the others. Tell them to…"

"I suggest you give up already. Madara's preparations to take over the world are almost complete." Kabuto snickered, flanked by Asuma and the 4th Kazekage. As if in cue, Kurotsuchi clenched her fists and Hinata gritted her teeth. The Iwa ninja gave Shikamaru a meaningful look and the genius shook his head. "Dispose of them." Kabuto hissed.

Shikamaru's eyes widened. He did not expect Kabuto to appear so early in the mission and bring along two powerful enemies that could cause so much more than physical pain. Asuma expulsed black smoke from his mouth but Temari dissipated it with her always reliable fan. Shikamaru used that opportunity to get a hold of his master's shadow but the Kazekage created a sand storm, which was oddly beautiful. Ino covered her eyes and tried to contact her friends, the only thing she could do. The medic ninja asked Tenten, who was out of the sand range, to deviate the Kazekage's attention. The Brunette exploded paper bombs around the enemy but that was not enough to break the man's concentration. He was a corpse and therefore he felt no pain. Neji listened to Ino's plea and used Rotation to create a small window on the foe's storm and allow the escape of his friends.

"Thank you Neji." Ino sighed. She started to look for the location of the enemies. Asuma was preparing another smoke screen but Chouji confronted him with Taijutsu. Such behavior surprised Shikamaru, he was certain his friend would be the last to attack but his anger was stronger than his sorrow. He shares those feelings. How could Kabuto disrespect Asuma's memory by binding his soul to a carcass? That was not their master. "The Kazekage is aiming for Temari. I'll help Chouji." The Ino winked.

Temari opened her fan to confront her father but he snatched it from her in a quick move. "Still depending on this toy? Did you tell your Leaf Ninja your reasons to carry this thing?" He mocked his daughter playing around with the fan. The resurrected was acting in an unusual manner. Until that point no enemy had spoken a word and that one was exposing Temari's weakness. "She is not that troublesome, actually she is harmless. She can't even use wind nature without this fan." The Kazekage glanced in Shikamaru's direction. The Suna kunoichi trembled with rage.

Asuma's face was emotionless but his movements were deadly. He approached his former students with kunai in both hands but Neji intercepted his movement. Asuma backed off and aimed once more for Ino and Chouji. However, Neji could not help them anymore, for his father stood in his way. "Are you done playing guard dog for the main branch?" Hizashi said much to Neji's astonishment.

"It is my duty to protect the main branch but I chose to follow that path and…" Neji's explanation was interrupted by his father's attack. Hizashi appeared in front of Neji and a sphere of chakra created a crater in the stone head. The younger jonin lnew something was wrong with his father, aside of being a resurrected. About 3 years ago, during the Chunin Exams, Neji received a letter from his father after losing a match to Naruto. The letter revealed that his father chose his fate by dying to save his brother's life, not because he was supposed to die instead of him. Neji was curious about this development but his father did not give more clues.

Ino avoided Asuma's attacks with graceful movements until her former sensei speeded up to punch her stomach. Chouji rushed to his friend in vain because Asuma pushed him aside with one kick. "Is this all you learned from me? I am disappointed." The corpse sighed. He looked for Shikamaru and yelled at the top of his lounges. "Shikamaru, fight me. I hope you will at least present a challenge. You, unlike the fatso and the drama queen, have some talent." Those words crushed the hearts of Chouji and Ino. They tried not to think about it but they knew they were nowhere near Shikamaru's class. Asuma used to tell them they should not care and now he was spitting in their faces.

There was no response from Shikamaru. "He is too busy taking care of the Sand Ninja, looks like she is more important than this pair of losers. Very well, I'll kill you first." Asuma turned to Ino and spat ashes. The girl escaped the cloud seconds before the explosion. She approached Asuma and kicked his head with enough strength to make him fall. While on the ground Asuma drew a kunai to stab Ino. Lucky for her Chouji intercepted the ninja tool. The brunette boy increased his size to stomp over Asuma, who moved in the last minute but sacrificed his right arm. Seconds later the missing limb grew again.

"Shikamaru, look after your friends. This is my fight." Temari narrowed her eyes. She could not forgive any more humiliating comments from her father. Calling her harmless was something not even a Kage should do. Shikamaru stood still, not wanting to left her for dead. "I said, go help them. I don't need you." She insisted and a sand courtain separated them before Shikamaru could reply.

"Shikamaru, Kabuto is escaping." Hinata yelled from another head.

"We'll go after him while you take care of stuff here." Kurotsuchi winked and motioned Hinata to follow her. Both girls had a score to settle with the medic ninja. Their loved ones had been manipulated by him or he was a key factor in their love ones fall.

"Damn Kabuto. He hit every one of us at a personal level and we fell for it. If I don't do something to correct this course of action we all will die." Shikamaru cursed under his breath as a kunai approached him dangerously.

To Be Continued

**Excuses So You Won't Kill Me:**

Just sorry for the delay.


	11. The Will of Fire in Jeopardy

Sasuke Hunt-down Team: The Fall of Konoha 14

Hello readers.

Happy Holidays. Eat, drink enjoy and ne merry, not only today but every day. And keep reading, thank you very much. I hope you like this chapter.

"**The plot was created before the manga got this far" **

The Will of Fire in Jeopardy

Shikamaru felt sharp pain on his right shoulder. He threw himself to the ground and just then he realized he had a scratch, probably from a kunai. The problem was that he could not see anything due to the sandstorm caused by the Fourth Kazekage, Temari's father. Shikamaru predicted that the rest of the team had the same problem, except for Kiba and the Hyugas, so he needed to find them, get the group together and come up with a new plan to destroy the Statue of the Outer Path or at least weaken it.

A kunai landed inches away from Shikamaru's head, prompting the genius to expand his shadow randomly in order to catch anyone. Obviously it did not work… Shikamaru was not acting as he supposed to so he backed off to think clearly. Another kunai scratched his shoulder. Whoever was throwing the weapons knew that Shikamaru was the brain of the mission and that person would not let him develop any strategy.

While Shikamaru struggled with the sand, Jugo and Lee had to deal with the constant attacks from Kimmimaro. Lucky for them, the sand did not reach them and they could see that a countless amount of bones pierced through the stone head of Hashirama Senju, in a matter of time the monument would collapse and the Sasuke Hunt-down Team would be in deep trouble. Lee jumped in the sides of the bones to back off while Jugo used his inhuman strength to break them. All of a sudden Kimmimaro appeared in front of Jugo, his dear friend.

"Wouldn't you rather be dead? It would be an improvement for you, pathetic weakling." The resurrected ninja drew a bone from his shoulder. "It's a matter of time for you to lose control and kill that other idiot." He pointed at Lee. "Why are you here anyway? To redeem your blood-lusting soul or to prove that you are more than a mindless beast? I know you are not a killing machine… deep inside you are a whining loser." He laughed and charged at Jugo with his sharp bone in hand.

Jugo was hurt, those words felt like acid. The former Taka member dodged the attack but his mind filled with rage and he began to hear voices. That was the signal that meant he was about to go mad and probably kill Lee. Unbearable pain hit Jugo's leg because Kimmimaro stabbed him with a bone fragment he removed from his finger.

As the red head screamed in pain, the resurrected turned his attention to the Konoha ninja. Kimmimaro stared blankly and Lee expected to hear the most hurtful, bitter and probably true comment about him. "Do I really have to say something?" The Sound Ninja did not change his expression but Lee gathered strength, thinking that he was so awesome that not even the poisonous mouth of the enemy could find an insult to his great persona. Kick after kick, punch after punch, Kimmimaro backed off. However, at the edge of the stone head he spoke again. "I see, you want to prove yourself because not even you believe in your power. I don't blame you… you were born a loser unable to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Lee flinched. "And that girl you love will get killed tonight because you can't defend her for being stuck with me. What's her name? Ah, Sakura." The white haired male unleashed Lee's fury. No one threatened the love of his life. Sadly, Kimimaro expected his sudden movement and pinned Lee's arm to the rock with one of his bones. "I'll watch you bleed to death, since I pierced important arteries."

Kiba stood in Hashirama Senju's stone head and he felt confident about the battle because the sandstorm did not reach his battle area, even if it had Kiba did not need his eyes to locate his foe. His nose was good enough to determine anyone's position and movements but he would not make use of it because he was able to see Ukkon, or Sakkon, and his eyes would never fail him.

"All right, I'm about to beat the crap out of you. Call it revenge from 3 years ago. You put me and Akamaru through Hell…" Kiba sounded bitterer than he wanted to.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Ukkon bragged. He rushed to Kiba with a very intimidating Axe he drew out of nowhere. The twin swung the weapon from left to right, accompanying the movements with a menacing laugh. Kiba dodged the first hit meant to slice his chest and the second one aimed for his neck. Sakkon attacked once more but Kiba stepped forward and hit the pole with his elbow, thus breaking the axe in two.

Sakkon backed off and Ukkon materialized his head right next to his brother's in order to look more intimidating, next he left his twin's body in a rather disgusting separation. "I see the cute puppy of yours did not survive our battle so you replaced it with a bigger one. That was wise of you." Ukkon's words enraged Kiba, anyone who spoke ill of Akamaru had it coming. "But you still look the same, little weakling, and I don't see any other ninja to come and save you." The comment hit on Kiba's pride. "Will you cry again? Will you beg for the forgiveness of your little puppy?" Ukkon made Kiba clench his fists and grit his teeth. "Will you let this one die too?" The twins said in unison, complementing the comment with an evil sneer.

Kiba bared his fangs. He did not want to hear the resurrected anymore so he initiated the preparations for Fang Over Fang. Akamaru, sensing the annoyance of his master, increased the size of his fangs and claws, his back curved making him more menacing and his fur turned red. However the most menacing feature was his glare. Kiba, on the other hand, emanated a dangerous aura and his eyes were the same as his loyal companion's. The team ran to opposite sides of their enemies, ten seconds later they turned on their heels and began to spin at incredible speed. "Gatsuga" Kiba yelled and the twins got caught in the middle of an extremely violent attack.

"I would never let Akamaru die." Kiba patted Akamaru, in his normal form, and smiled at him. "And I am not a weakling… I trained hard for 3 years so I could overcome the shame I felt after I lost to you and Kankuro had to save me." He approached the twins, while they were trying to stand up. "The truth is that I didn't hold a grudge against you. I blamed myself for not being good enough… but I guess this victory doesn't count. I grew stronger while you were dead, so let's call it even." Kiba smiled at the fallen brothers but they did not respond, their bodies lost all power and disintegrated, leaving the corpses of unknown ninja behind. Kiba was speechless.

"Kabuto's been controlling them, It's no use to linger on the issue. We should move on and find the others." Surprisingly, Shikamaru stood next to Kiba but the Inuzuka grabbed the genius by the throat and snapped his neck.

"Don't make me laugh. Shikamaru wouldn't be able to escape that sandstorm… Damn I should go find him." Kiba sniffed the air to look for his friends. None of them stood a chance without him or the Hyugas.

Karin followed Suigetsu's battle closely. She would not allow herself to miss any detail, actually she was hoping to see an embarrassing moment and taunt him about it later on, but she seemed so focused that Suigetsu felt pleased. "So you are finally appreciating me, huh? I knew you'll recognize my awesomeness sooner or later, that's just my effect on the girls. Sasuke is not the only Ladies' man around." Suigetsu bragged. He dodged his brother's sword slashes and succeeded in stealing one of them. "Now we can fight in even grounds." He sneered while raising the weapon to the level of his purple eyes.

"Hey you, I'm going to find Shikamaru. Stay alive until he comes up with a new plan… something tells me that we'll be screwed if we keep fighting like that." Kiba passed by them and jumped into the Second Hokage's stone head, which was covered by the sandstorm.

Suigetsu battled fiercely with his brother, the sword slashes released a spark when they collided. Susprisingly, Suigetsu seemed as powerful as his brother, the leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Myst. In the middle of the battle the purple eyed boy felt Karin's hands hugging his waist. "Don't leave my side." She said. Suigetsu raised an eyebrow and shook his head, as in saying, 'I can't help being irresistible.' As he tried to turn in order to face the girl she spoke again. "Don't move, that damned storm is coming this way and if you leave my side I can't tell you where to go." She said. Suigetsu rolled his eyes. The storm hit.

"Three steps to the southeast, turn 22 degrees and stab," The redhead yelled. Suddenly, she felt Mangetsu's chakra approaching, an impact and Suigetsu's weight crushing her in the ground. Their situation was not good. Karin would be able to escape but she was not leaving her friend to his death. "What's with the 'southeast' crap? Keep it plain." The younger Hozuki snapped. The argument continued until Mangetsu's sword stabbed the stone right next to Karin's face. That was their cue to start working as a team.

"There is nothing complicated about that, it's not my fault you have the brains of a fish." Karin held him by the neck and moved him back and forth. "He's coming." She said and pushed Suigetsu away, so they avoided the sword slash. "How can he see us so clearly?" Then realization hit her. Kabuto must know a way to locate the enemies and resurrected alike, otherwise he wouldn't need the sandstorm to give him the upper-had. That could only mean that he was low on chakra for either controlling so many corpses or he was already battling someone else and he couldn't focus properly. A sword slash almost hit Karin, breaking her glasses in half.

"Karin, are you ok?" Suigetsu asked worried. The girl mumbled an answer and started to give more orders to her friend. He repeated every word and moved as soon as he assimilated the order. It was starting to work out. "All right. Three steps to the left and swing the sword." He mumbled and hit something. "Nice, we did it."

"Right!" Karin yelled and Suigetsu made a wink, assuming she meant his awesome job, not that Karin couldn't see the gesture. "I mean move right. He's coming." The girl corrected herself. "That's left." She groaned with growing frustration. Suigetsu could not follow orders twice in a row. "You have such a short attention span." The girl pulled Suigetsu towards her so his brother's sword couldn't touch him.

Meanwhile, the Second Hokage's stone head was Chiyo's battlefield. The old puppeteer kept Sai and Sakura at bay with a variety of attacks based on poisoned kunai knives, puppets appearing out of nowhere and occasional paper bombs. Normally the leaf ninjas would put up a better fight but the sandstorm made visibility impossible. Sakura and Sai lay in the stone, trying to reduce their chances of being targeted. However, it was in vain because the arm of a puppet grabbed the kunoichi's ankle. The girl rolled on her back and kicked the aggressor.

"This is not good… How can she see us?" Sakura started but Sai covered her mouth. Then the girl understood his partner, maybe sound was leading her to them, but they were wrong. Even in complete silence the old lady found them. "I wish we had a sensor." Sakura meant Ino, but she would never say it out loud or she would never hear the end of it. Sai tapped her shoulder and spilled some ink that took the form of several small snakes. That was meant to create a chakra sensing barrier in the ground, in case Chiyo appeared Sai would know where to attack. The team just had to wait.

The pink haired Kunoichi backed off and crashed against a wooden object and destroyed it. Seconds later another puppet got in her way. "This is too easy. Why aren't they attacking me… they just bump into me." Sakura's answer came fast enough. The broken pieces exploded. Sai created two ink birds in order to change the current of the sandstorm but the birds were destroyed. That meant that Sai's creatures would be fine as long as they remained low. The ROOT member spilled more ink and pulled Sakura to the ground with him. Lady Chiyo stepped in the black stain and the jaws of a tiger closed on her legs. "Sakura, turn 40 degrees, hit with all your strength. The target is no farther than half a meter." Sai explained and the girl smashed the resurrected lady to the ground.

"This won't work if she uses 'them' and if it comes to that I will have to do something very rash and with severe consequences. I want you close so we can leave at once." Sakura shuddered with fear and anticipation. Sai understood what the girl would do and shivered at the idea of the consequence.

Below the Second Hokage's stone head Shino battled his fellow clan-member, Torune. The sandstorm did not reach them so the opponents fought without problems. Yet, they did not say a word during their fight. It was not necessary. Shino raised a barrier of insects to surround Torune, depriving the resurrected of chakra was the only method to stop him, physical attacks were meaningless. Torune substituted himself with a barrel within his range, immediately after he appeared behind Shino and failed to touch his skin due to Shino's clothes. The Root member back flipped and impulse himself to tackle Shino successfully. The Hunt down Team member pushed Torune with his feet, at the same time commanding his insects to close on him.

As Torune began to lose the battle Kabuto allowed him to speak. "If you really want to recover my special insects I want you to adapt to their venom, make them serve you, and seal me. Otherwise my gift will be lost and that's not an option." He said in a monotone voice, very similar to Shino. Most likely Shino would die before assimilating the insects but if there was a chance Shino would take it.

"I understand. My mission behind this assignment is to retrieve my clan's secret. Why? Because the power of the Leaf comes from the strength of the major clans." Shino explained. Shino covered his hands with his insects and approached his enemy, when he reached a decent distance he extended his palms and hit Torune right in the chest. Shino repeated the same motion several times with difficulty and his heart hurt every time his insects fell dead to the ground. However, the strategy was working for Torune's chakra diminished with every strike. For the last strike Shino removed the insects from his hands and placed his ten fingers on Torune's face. Immediately after doing it the living Aburame fell to his knees in unbearable pain, his skin turning purple. Yet he refused to emit a sound of discomfort, he was too proud.

Seconds later the sound of destruction reached Shino's ears. As he used all his remaining power to look up, he saw huge pieces of stone falling directly to him. Sakura held her bleeding arm as she fell and Sai reached for her as soon as he was able to draw a bird. Other person fell uncontrollably. An old woman, Shino figured she was Lady Chiyo, followed by ten silhouettes, the legendary puppets that helped her conquer a castle in one day. "We are dead." He realized that Sakura's inhuman strength destroyed the statue of the Second Hokage. "I rather die right now that return and face the Lady Hokage's wrath." The last thing Shino saw before passing out was Sai's bird vanishing, apparently the Root member ran out of energy.

Neji, Chouji and Ino heard the crash of the stones and stopped their fights for an instant. Even though the sandstorm was thicker in the Third Hokage's stone head, because the source of the phenomenon was there, Neji and Ino knew what was going on. "That stupid Sakura just damned the whole Team." Ino gritted her teeth out of preoccupation for her friend and her beloved Sai. Yet, Asuma did not give her time to feel sad. Her sensei kicked her in the stomach. The girl stood up and determination filled her eyes, she was not losing anyone. "Chouji expand your fist to the side." She commanded and Asuma's chakra felt distant. The two developed a strategy similar to Karin and Suigetsu. "Shikamaru is practically isolated in the Fourth Hokage's head. How did he end up there? I just felt his chakra and Tenten's fly in that direction." Ino thought while locating Asuma. She found him and used chakra scalpel to severe Asuma's muscles, as she did to Hidan. The girl turned green at the thought of the immortal.

Chouji could not move without Ino's command so he waited and tried to pick up a sound. Instead of it he noticed a small disruption in the sand and rushed away from it, in time to avoid Hazashi's Rotation. "Expand both hands to the left and clap." He heard Ino and obeyed. He felt something small and pressed his hands even more. "Good work, idiot. Can you stand this?" Asuma's voice echoed in Chouji's ears. Suddenly sharp pain spread in the brunette's palm and a warm liquid covered the stone. Chouji returned to normal size and Ino rushed towards him. The girl healed her friend's hands and turned in time to intercept Asuma's fist with chakra scalpel.

Neji did not have a problem with the sandstorm, with Tenten gone he didn't have anyone to protect but he was worried. She was attacking randomly and Shikamaru was within her range. "Sit, stay, good boy. Are those the typical words Hinata uses with you?" Hazashi continued his verbal aggression and combined it with Rotation and other powerful techniques. Sincerely, the genius was getting tired of the talking. Those words did not hold any meaning for him, nevertheless, hearing them from his father's mouth hurt. Mostly because Neji knew Kabuto was tainting Hazashi's memory with what he think was Neji's emotional weakness.

In a flash Kiba passed by but Neji did not think much of it. Instead he focused on countering Rotation with his own, creating an immense crater in Hiruzen Sarutobi's monument. "I see my words will not reach you, my son. What a shame, then I suppose killing your pretty friend will break you." Hazashi passed by Neji, but the younger Hyuga rushed forward and tackled his father. Then, Hazashi released chakra from all the pores of his body and hurt Neji. "So I hit the right bottom. Is she that special? I assume you are too close and plan a family if you survive this war." Neji knew what was coming. He thought about it sometimes but always dropped the subject. "The course mark will fall upon your issue." Neji prepared to attack but stopped on his tracks. Hazashi moved forward and stoke his son's chest, making him cough blood.

Temari was in clear disadvantage. Not only she could not see her opponent, she could not even dissipate the storm without her fan. However, something was odd about her father's fighting style. He was not making any move and he was not saying a word. Probably he was using most of his power to control and expand the sandstorm and that was her perfect chance to attack… if only she could see him. But she was not able to move either. Two powerful Leaf ninjas were fighting at both her sides. The Hyuga and Sarutobi's jutsus were too destructive and a false step could cost her life. She had to think her next attack very carefully.

"Are you not going to attack? Well I figured that much, you are just a girl." The 4th Kazekage said. "The day you were born the whole village wore black because we expected our first-born to be a boy." The words hit Temari's pride once more. For all her life she fought with the burden of being the oldest child of the kazekage and not the strongest, nor the favorite. Sometimes she felt that the disgrace of the Sand Village was because of her, because she should have been born a man. She never admitted that to anyone but how did Kabuto know, not even her father had a hint. She always discussed the subject with indifference.

"Well, I am glad I displeased you." Temari clenched her fists, not wanting to say anything more for fear to show her distress. She wanted to find him more than anything and seal him for good. She moved forward and bit her thumb, she hadn't tried to summon her weasel without the fan but she had to try, and made the signs of the summoning technique. The weasel appeared with the scythe and Temari was back in the game, putting aside all the bitterness she had. The weasel smelled the air and moved carefully to the right, once it was near the target it swung her weapon and moved aside so Temari could stab him. The Kazekage moved and gradually the sandstorm faded, it wasn't completely gone. "How is that for a girl?" She grinned.

"You are still a useless wind type." The resurrected destroyed the fan, eliminating all of Temari's chances of counterattack. The sandstorm grew thicker once more and the visibility returned to zero.

In Minato's head Shikamaru and Tenten saw each other, in the instant the sandstorm decreased, and stopped attacking. "Why didn't you speak before?" Both ninja said at unison. A little longer and they would have killed each other. The genius started to formulate a plan that involved gathering all the team with the help of Kiba or the Hyugas or contact them with Ino's telepathy. "The closest one is Ino but there is no way Chouji will survive without her. The best option is to end the sandstorm and reunite around the Statue of the Outer Path… but we could face Kabuto and even Madara... according to Shino, Madara is in surrounded by the Jinchuriki." Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They've been motionless since we got here." Kiba appeared out of nowhere. "What's the plan? I'm done with my nemesis so I'm ready to help." The inuzuka scratched his head.

"Let's find Ino… we need to regroup in the Third's monument." Shikamaru started to think faster, he recalled everyone's jutsu, the intelligence he had on the resurrected, who was fighting who, and all kind of data. Then he analyzed all kind of scenarios, every outcome reassured him. However, some of them came with a sacrifice and that made him hesitate.

"Whoa! Asuma, Hizashi and the Fouth Kazekage are there." Kiba kept moving.

"That's why we have to clear that area, with the 4th gone the sandstorm threat will vanish. Where are Hinata and Kurotsuchi?" The genius formulated another plan.

"Kurotsuchi is fighting Kabuto while Hinata is approaching Sasuke. Those two got us covered." Kiba smirked but Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. The girls wouldn't last long enough by themselves. Kabuto was too dangerous, even for a Tsuchikage's bodyguard. "They'll be fine… and if not, they knew the risk." Kiba tried to act normal but his eyes obscured.

"We all know the risk… but we took the mission because you are leading it." Tenten grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder and followed the line to the Third's stone head.

"Let turn the tie to our favor." Shikamaru smirked for the vote of confidence.

To be continued

**Excuses so you won't kill me:**

Sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoyed reading the first part of the fights, the climax is coming so stay put.


	12. Counter Attack

Sasuke Hund down Team: The Fall of Konoha 13

Hello Readers. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am a hopeless romantic and a SasuHina fan, so I elaborated in the scenes and added some memories of the first part of the story. Enjoy!

"**The plot was created before the manga got this far"**

Counter Attack

The battles in Hyruzen Sarutobi's monument were fierce. Neji kept trying to immobilize his father so he could not reach Tenten, Ino and Chouji dodged more of Asuma's attacks but the resurrected targeted the girl too often to prevent her from thinking, and Temari struggled to find her father due to the appearance of a pair of Zetsus. Things did not seem well for the Hunt down Team.

Temari focused on her sense of hearing, managing to isolate the wind current from the steps of the enemies. The girl cursed at the frustration of her current situation. Two members of the White Army intercepted her as soon as she found a way to locate her father and weaken the sandstorm. A Zetsu grabbed her ankles while the other approached her with a kunai but seconds before the impact her weasel cut the enemies with the scythe. "This is not good, those things will keep regenerating." She muttered.

"If you were a man you wouldn't be this helpless." The Kazekage laughed. It was hard enough to fight in the dark and the resurrected complicated everything by reminding Temari of her trauma. It was common knowledge that the sex of a baby was random but that did not stop anyone from looking down on Temari when she was younger. She caught some people saying that a boy should have been the First-born because a girl was a symbol of weakness for the Kazekage. Then Kankuro was born and he was a source for celebration, unlike Temari. The pain it caused her encouraged her to become stronger, she would be better than her brother in everything and she would change people's minds by proving her worth. With time she did, yet she couldn't erase the memories of people wishing for boy, the fake sympathy in every birthday and being called "The weakness of the Kazekage".

"Stop… It was not my fault." Temari lost control and followed her weasel to the Kazekage. The Zetsu were still regenerating. "I did not chose it. Do you think I would have suffered this much if I had a say on it?" The girl punched the Kazekage's face and the sandstorm weakened. She attacked once more, every punch stronger than the last. "I wouldn't let the village suffer because I was born a girl." The wind around the girl turned violent and then it stopped, as Temari listened to her words. Would she really choose to be someone else? Being a boy meant that Shikamaru wouldn't be hers and that hurt. It also meant that she was rejecting her life, the only gift from her mother that no one could take away from her. However, the surprise attack of a Zetsu brought her back to reality. The girl struggled and snapped the neck of the aggressor.

"Make up your mind troublesome woman." Temari knew Shikamaru would say something of the sort and smiled to herself. "You are my weakness." She faintly recalled her father saying but his voice was not bitter. The Suna kunoichi took a deep breath and reminder herself that the man she was fighting was a corpse controlled by Kabuto, a manipulative bastard. Then her eyes turned deadly, no one would tell her she was not good enough, those comments only affected the weak. The air around the blonde changed drastically so even the strong golden sand submitted to her will. In an instant, the girl posed as if holding her fan and moved her hands to direct the wind toward the Kazekage. The impact of her attack dismissed the corps' control of the sandstorm, returning the visibility of the area.

"As expected of my troublesome woman. Thanks we can fight back." Shikamaru approached Temari with a smirk. "But first we seal him." He pointed at the Kazekage.

"My father's strength is unbelievable but this bad imitation limited itself to control a sandstorm and do some talking. Something is really messed up with Kabuto's chakra, or he would have unleashed my Father's true power. It makes me think that Hinata and Kurotsuchi actually have a chance." Temari's eyes darkened while thinking of a severe, cruel and well deserved punishment. Even Shikamaru dropped a sweat but reacted in time to bind the Kazekage's shadow, thus immobilizing him.

Shikamaru developed a new strategy. "Ino, call everyone. I need them in the Third's stone head. If we stay together we can fight the stronger resurrected. The Statue can wait."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible… Tenten, don't go near him." Neji dodged and attack from his father and Tenten assisted him with paper bombs as means of distraction. "Jugo and Lee have lost too much blood, Karin and Suigetsu cannot escape their enemy, Sakura and Sai are unconscious in the bottom of the mountain, poison is consuming Shino's body, Kurotsuchi and Hinata can hardly breathe." The Hyuga's information was not well received. Nevertheless, Shikamaru had to work with what he had and get rid of the two enemies in front of him.

"Sakura gave me an idea but I want to know if you are willing to get killed by the Hokage once the mission is over." The Nara boy waited for an answer and was pleased to get the nods from his comrades. "Tenten, Kiba and Chouji… hide. I will tell you the plan by Ino's telepathy when the time comes." He ordered and turned to face Asuma and Hizashi. Temari and Neji adopted a battle stance next to him, but Ino kneeled to prepare for one of her Mind Jutsu. "Temari, Ino's going to stop the resurrected. Don't let anything happen to her in the meantime." He smirked, giving his complete trust to his troublesome woman.

Asuma made some vicious comments about Shikamaru living under Shikaku's shadow. However, the genius could not care less. The only thing that would get him emotional was a comrade in a life-threatening situation, and that was exactly what he was trying to prevent. Since Asuma could not affect Shikamaru, the resurrected changed his strategy and charged with full speed against the young Nara. Shikamaru extended his shadow several times in a row, yet his speed was not a match for Asuma, who suddenly seemed more powerful than moments before. The genius realized that, with most of the Hunt down Team out of shape, Kabuto could focus on controlling the remaining corpses.

"Damn!" Asuma got dangerously close to Shikamaru and spit ashes in his face, the attack made the younger ninja lose his balance and fall to the ground. In less than a minute Asuma would have created a spark and made Shikamaru explode but Temari's newly acquired control of wind saved the Nara boy's life by blowing away the ash. Shikamaru noticed the ashes moving towards Asuma, so he created the spark. The explosion disintegrated most of the corpse, giving Shikamaru time to recover.

Hazashi, on the other hand, tried to go after Tenten since she was Neji's current weakness. The Hyugas countered each other with Rotation. Hazashi tried to move forward once more, yet Temari stopped him with a slashing wind jutsu. While the enemy recovered its form Neji noticed Ino placing a small sphere in a kunai and muttering 'one out of three'. Next, the young Byakugan user adopted a battle stance and looked closely to his father's newly reconstructed chakra network, and if Neji's strategy worked Hazashi would not be a threat anymore. "Father! I apologize for what I am about to do." Neji's eyes had so much sadness in them but his posture did not fail. Hizashi's remarkable speed allowed him to hit his son and react in time to dodge Neji's palm strikes. At one moment Hazashi aimed for Neji's heart. The pain that invaded the young Hyuga's body sent him to the ground. However, he took the chance to grab Hazashi's wrists. Ino saw her chance to approach the older Hyuga to use her Mind-Removal Justu. The girl removed a small sphere from Hazashi's forehead and placing it in a kunai, just like she did with the Kazekage.

"Father, I never had the chance to thank you for the big lesson you taught me after your dead…" Neji held back his tears. "and I think I am ready to move on. The bitter words you kept saying about being a dog for the main branch hurt at the beginning, but just because it was your voice." He smiled sweetly. "I am positive you don't feel like that. After all, you know that no one can decide our fate but us… and I chose to protect my cousin because I love her not because I am supposed to." Neji closed the eyes of the corpse and stood up with difficulty, suddenly feeling relieved.

"Only Asuma remains." Shikamaru said with apprehension. The fewer resurrected standing the more powerful they were, and his former sensei was to be feared. "Temari, Neji. Hold him while I tell Ino the new instructions." The Suna Kunoichi nodded.

The rest of the team members were not doing as good as Shikamaru's half. For starters Jugo and Lee were in no shape to fight. However, they were glad that Kimmimaro was cruel enough to let them bleed to death, at least alive they could come up with an idea of how to escape or turn the tide of the battle. So far they were blank. Karin and Suigetsu managed to keep Mangetsu at bay. Orders from the redhead were precise and most of the times the purple eyes male obeyed. Things went well until the boy made a mistake and the girl started to yell at him. Mangetsu took advantage of those opportunities and pinned Karin's sleeve to the stone, making Suiguetsu his priority. Despite everyone's difficulties three ninjas were in the worse situation. Sakura suffered the effects of a poisonous kunai. The shivers and cold sweat kept her from moving. Sai, with the little energy he had left, did his best to stop the rocks from crushing them. And Shino fought violent shocks of pain as his insects tried to consume Torune's memento. The bright side was that their enemies were trapped by the rocks.

Kabuto's smirk widened and sent Itachi to defeat Kurotsuchi. The snake manipulator could not fight the girl, mostly because he was controlling countless resurrected and giving constant chakra boosts to Sasuke. The Iwa kunoichi backed off as soon as she was able to move and spat lava as a decoy for her to move closer to Itachi and melt his body. Nothing seemed to work against him so she had to try everything. "Looks like I've lost any chance to win." She chuckled. "It's a good thing I sent Hinata after Sasuke." She panted.

"So it's not over yet… I want to see what else you can do. Not that your techniques can amuse me, I know them all." Kabuto said.

Hinata was worried about her friend, who was fighting Itachi at the feet of the Statue. Yet she knew that the best way to protect her, and the rest of the Hunt down Team was to find out Madara's plan weakness and only Sasuke could give her a hint. The girl walked in the back of the Statue and approached the ill looking Uchiha. He was pale and trembling, actually the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground was a set of snake-like strings connecting his veins to the Statue. The Byakugan allowed Hinata to follow the chakra string. The pale blue tube was long enough to reach the circle formed by the resurrected Jinchuriki, each of them had strings connected to Sasuke's original tube and all of them empowered Madara. "Kabuto comes every so often to pass me his own chakra. He's late though." Sasuke's voice was bitter, as if he rather be dead than receive one more unit of life from the snake man.

"Once you die Madara will be able to merge the 10 tailed beasts." Hinata guessed, not wanting to hear the answer.

"It's simpler than that. If I die and he hasn't got all the chakra he needs the plan fails and he dies. The strings that connect us are a special life-binding jutsu. Madara knows none of you will kill me so he uses it as he is vulnerable… At least that's all I could figure out, but those two always have back-ups for the back-up plan." Sasuke sighed. "Will you try to kill me?" He smirked.

"I won't hesitate this time." Hinata looked to her side and prepared her palm.

"Everyone…" It was Ino's voice. "Head to the Third's stone head if you can. Tenten, Kiba and Chouji are working in a special assignment. Once they give us the signal the whole team will move to the Fourth's monument and attack from there." Ino stopped talking and focused on reading Hinata's mind. "Understood. Shikamaru wants you to wait. If you severe the ties there is no guarantee that Naruto, Gaara or Killer Bee will survive."

"Hinata!" Sasuke felt powerless as he saw Kabuto appear behind Hinata. The girl saw him without a doubt; otherwise she wouldn't have made a face of utter horror. The only thing Sasuke could do was to use Amaterasu and he did, as an act of desperation. As expected, the Uchiha's power was practically harmless. All that Amaterasu did was burn Kabuto's sleeve. Suddenly a miracle occurred for Kabuto stopped moving.

"Foolish little brother, as helpless as always." Itachi appeared behind Sasuke and engaged Kabuto in his powerful genjutsu. Now it was a matter of time before Madara's power diminished. "I was waiting for Kabuto to be more vulnerable so I could eliminate him, but you two had to show up and change everything." Itachi didn't even bother to look at Hinata. Then, an air current hit him. It moved his hair so the older Uchiha passed his fingers through his forehead, and he looked gorgeous as always. Hinata stared with a blush until Sasuke cleared his throat. Kurotsuchi, who looked bruised but well, had the same reaction.

"Everyone is ok now." Hinata smiled to Kurotsuchi, who made her way with slow steps. Her Byakugan allowed her to see the battlefield, from Hashirama's head to Tsunade's. Kimmimaro vanished, leaving behind the corpse of an unknown ninja, so Karin had the chance to heal the damaged arteries in Lee and Jugo's legs. At the same time Suigetsu fell to his knees exhausted and the redhead rushed to him and allowed him to bite her. Yet, he did something to anger her because she slapped him until his head turned to water. Below the stone heads, Shino leaned on the rocks to walk towards the other ninja. He touched Sakura's wound and, after a painful process, he decontaminated her body. Apparently Torune's poison and Chiyo's had a similar base. Sai overlooked them with a smile and consumed a food pill to create a bird and fly towards the rendezvous point. Asuma's corpse vanished as it was clashing with Shikamaru. The genius had several scratches and wide eyes. Temari looked relieved as she saw Shikamaru unharmed. She also held the remaining pieces of her giant fan. Ino's eyes watered and Neji patted her back. Kiba, Chouji and Tenten worked diligently on their tasks. That reminded Hinata that the battle was not over yet. The last people she looked for were Naruto, Gaara and Killer B. The rest of the Jinchuriki were gone. However, Madara seemed severely taken aback by the sudden loss of power, but he was still clinging to the chakra tube.

"If I kill you now, Madara dies." Hinata tried to hide her anguish.

"So does Naruto… and the others." Sasuke smiled bitterly. "I told you, it's the back-up plan. That bastard won't let anything slip him. He survived the removal of the other jinchuriki because they were already dead."

"Don't mind my brother, Hyuga. Tell your captain to destroy the eyes of the Statue and it will release the Jinchuriki from the connection. Once you do that, only the main connection will kill Sasuke to end Madara and do it quick or that bastard will break the link and escape." Itachi gave Sasuke and apologetic look.

"Roger." Shikamaru, and most of the Hunt down Team, approached the group. The genius decided to attack Madara in the Fifth's stone head, instead of in the Fourth's. "Who's has strength left?" Everyone volunteered, even when they could hardly breathe.

"Let us handle it from here." Kankuro and the rest of the reinforcements arrived. Choujuro, C, Darui and several other ninja appeared with reassuring, overconfident smirks. "So we take the eyes, huh? Commander." The puppeteer extended the word more than necessary.

"Just get the eyes and then head straight to Madara." Shikamaru said, too tired to even roll his eyes, and the newcomers moved towards their targets. "Hinata, you don't have to do this." The rest of the ninja, except for Ino and Sakura, shared food pills and headed to Madara's location. They knew what to do.

The Hyuga heiress ignored the captain, all she could hear were her violent heartbeats, and activated her Byakugan. The girl got as close as she could, and all her courage left her. In order to regain her valor, she started to remember every single time Sasuke had deceived her and her beloved village. "You endangered everyone. You wouldn't hesitate to kill Kurenai Sensei's baby, and yet people believed you could change. I wanted to think that you could forget your vengeance… I still do but it's too late." Hinata cupped Sasuke's face and placed her forehead on his. As soon as the words escaped her every bit of determination evaporated.

"Is your offer still up?" Sasuke smirked, not losing his cool even in the face of death. The young Uchiha meant the conversation he and Hinata had in the Hokage's office. She promised to stay with him during his imprisonment and devote to him after his release. Sasuke was not serious, that was a tactic to make the heiress feel better.

"Don't tell me the proud Uchiha will submit his will to the Leaf." The girl chuckled, understanding Sasuke's game. There was so much going on between them. Sasuke was too tainted with hatred and revenge, but if he could feel something remotely close to love for Hinata perhaps his soul was not lost yet.

"If you are serious about protecting your loved ones do what you must. Think of your father and sister, your lap dog, the bug-lover, the ramen idiot, the two loudmouths, and the rest of your friends. Think of that baby of Kurenai's." Sasuke smirked. "Not that I care. I'm all for revenge but you are just too cheesy and that's the type of thing you want to hear." He chuckled, as well as Hinata.

The Hyuga heiress forgot about her shyness and about every witness in the area. The only thought occupying her mind was Sasuke's kiss. She knew that one last kiss should last her for whatever time she had left and she was going to have it. The byakugan user leaned forward and brushed her lips with Sasuke's. The sensation was odd, since tears emanated from the girl and every single drop reminded both ninja that their reunion was not to be celebrated. However, they gave in and let the moment flow as if everything would be fine the next morning.

Sasuke gave up fighting, something changed that make him decrease the need for vengeance. He still felt anger towards Konoha but that did not matter anymore since he was going to die by the hands of Hinata. The kiss he shared with the heiress gave him the memory of Madara saying "Her beautiful eyes will be the last thing you will see". Sasuke chuckled, sending a new sensation to Hinata. The avenger was glad to spend those last moments with his Hinata and even though he was not the sensitive type he could not deny how much he enjoyed it.

Then they broke the kiss.

"Hinata, you can still back off." Shikamaru insisted in vain. Deep inside he knew what his friend was thinking. She formed a special bond with Sasuke, probably stronger than anyone alive, she would kill him for the sake of everyone she loved and Sasuke wanted to die by her hand. As if it wasn't enough, the heiress was also willing to receive Naruto's grudge. "It's time, the eyes have been destroyed." Shikamaru's words crushed Hinata. Nevertheless, she lowered her hand to Sasuke's chest and pulled it, calculating a straight trajectory for her strike. Every second she procrastinated the attack a flashback invaded her mind, filling her eyes with more tears;

She saw the waterfall where they fought during the first mission of the Hunt down Team. Then the moment they shared in the cave, where she realized Sasuke was more than a monster. He even defended her from Madara, risking his life in the process. They shared what was on their minds, like Naruto being Hinata's role model and Sasuke confiding in Hinata the truth of the Uchiha Clan. The few hours in Nekoba's shop also came to her mind. The discomfort of hearing Tamaki saying that she would be the one to restore the Uchiha clan made Hinata realize how much she cared for Sasuke. But the most painful, yet beautiful, memory was the first kiss they shared. It happened in the waterfall of their first confrontation. Both ninja confessed their love, or what they thought was love, but decided to keep their loyalties where they were.

In the last second Sasuke smirked at her and mouthed three words that shocked her. The chakra in Hinata's hand formed the head of a lion. It was a strong technique to prevent Sasuke from suffering. "Good bye." She whispered.

Suddenly a yellow flash passed by Hinata's eyes.

To Be Continued

**Excuses so you won't kill me:**

Well, I guess NaruHina is almost cannon. That means SasuSaku has a chance too. I really don't mind either way XD (as long and ShikaTema happens I'll be soooo happy). Anyway, congratz to all NaruHina fans.

I wanted Temari to have some type of ghost and kick its butt, just because she is so awesome. Shikamaru is the best, so I made him face insubordination and overcome it. (That's how much I love them XD)

The back-up arrived just in time to complete a task that no one else could do. Some were doing something else and the rest were totally messed up.

Kurotsuchi is freaking strong and Kabuto was weak, that's why he sent Itachi and at the end Itachi got him.

I think that's all. Thanks for reading.


	13. Madara Backed to a Corner

Sasuke Hunt Down Team: The Fall of Konoha 8

Hello readers. I hope you enjoy the chapter. I would like to finish the story to end the year (I think it's kinda cool). Well, have fun and forgive my cheesiness, the extended battles, the very short battles and anything you can think about.

"**The story was created before the manga got this far." **

Madara Backed to a Corner

Sasuke closed his eyes to wait for a fatal strike that never came. Instead, he felt a heavy fist in his face. The traitor wondered why the Leaf ninja were wasting time with punches when they could end Madara's life by killing him, Sasuke opened his eyes and saw Naruto, the blonde was irritated, and that made the Uchiha's eyebrow twitch. He expected to hear the same talk about Naruto not letting him die and returning him to the right path. "What now?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Did you think I'll let Hinata kill you? I swore that I'll return you to the Leaf alive." The blonde started, but Itachi covered Naruto's eyes.

"Drop it. You should worry about killing Madara before he breaks his connection." Itachi sighed and looked in Madara's direction. The masked man stood in the Statue's head with clenched fists and unable to move. If Madara wanted to escape he had to severe his chakra string but that would leave him open for Gaara and Killer Bee's attacks. They were not trying to assassinate the masked man at Naruto's request.

"Do you actually plan to fight him after absorbing chakra from Kabuto, all the Jinchuriki and me?" Sasuke snorted. "Go, don't mind me."

"Actually, all the chakra is going to the Statue. Madara is as powerless as you." Hinata clarified, referring to Sasuke. "Naruto, please move aside. I'll continue the task." She asked pleadingly but the blond stood his ground.

"I am not moving. Sasuke has to live because killing him will make everyone miserable." Naruto explained his motives. Sakura and Ino exchanged glances.

"I think I'll be fine." Kiba approached with a Kunai. Apparently his work was done.

"Shut it, lap dog." Sasuke dared him to make a move.

"Madara is an urgent matter." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Ino, tell Tenten and Chouji to start the detonations. We will use the distraction to attack Madara at my signal. Tell Sai I need birds to break our fall." Shikamaru commanded. "If you survive Madara, the explosion and the fall, consider yourself a prisoner of the Leaf." The genius said in a bored tone and motioned Hinata to follow him. The Hyuga girl shot Sasuke a worried glance but the Uchiha nodded reassuringly.

Naruto lingered for a few seconds and then Sakura approached him shyly. "I'm glad you're ok." She held his hand and then pulled it. "Shikamaru would never leave his life to chance… I bet Tenten will cut the string and Sai's bird is ready to get him." She winked, trying to make Naruto feel better. The blonde scratched his head with his free hand and followed the medic.

When Shikamaru arrived to the head of the Statue Sai's birds were already roaming the sky. Tenten was riding one of them, ready to cut Sasuke's string. Chouji had the hand-sign to detonate the paper bombs. The Hunt down Team and the Reinforcements surrounded Madara, the man was willing to wait until the last second to merge the Ten Tails. Even if he tried to escape he would have to pass through the dead bodies of at least thirty shinobi. "All right Madara Uchiha, be prepared to die. There is no way for you to…" There was the explosion.

The Fifth's monument started to shake. At first, small stones slid from the base of the rock wall and then huge pieces of the monument fell with deafening impacts. Shikamaru felt the ground collapse under him and in an instant he was jumping from rock to rock in order to keep himself at the level of the Statue. "Tenten, now." He yelled and the weapons specialist threw a kunai with her usual accuracy and severed the chakra string that connected Sasuke and Madara. One of Sai's ink birds rushed to aid the weakened avenger. Soon after, the rest of the birds retrieved the rest of the team. Gaara used his sand to stay in the air and surrounded Madara with his sand coffin, but the masked man evaded the attack, jumping away from the Statue. Shikamaru saw his chance to stab the masked man with his Shadow Sewing Jutsu. Despite the effort, Madara became intangible. Hinata kept track of him and nodded to Sakura as soon as the man became solid. The bird that carried the pink haired kunoichi was several feet above Madara, which gave Sakura even more strength to her attack. Madara started the process to teleport the girl but Temari's wind blew the girl towards Naruto. Kiba attacked from behind with Fang over Fang and Shino surrounded the enemy with Insect Sphere. At the end they spent chakra in vain. Madara dodged them easily.

"Ino, did you contact Anko?" Temari approached Ino's ink bird.

"Yes, she did resurrect Konan but she won't make her fight. She asked for her advice. We need to trap him in a deadly jutsu for at least 10 minutes. If that works we can have the upper hand and give the final strike. I just told Shikamaru." She explained.

"Good… what's his answer?" The Suna ninja crossed her arms.

"It's been like 10 seconds since I told him." Ino pouted in disbelief. Temari was too pushy, then she got the answer from Shikamaru and her eyes widened. Usually her lazy fried wouldn't react that fast in any situation. Maybe Temari was good for him. "All right… I approve of you as Shikamaru's wife." Ino squealed, astonishing Temari.

"Ino, the strategy." The older ninja snapped her fingers in front of Ino's eyes.

"We need the Hyugas to use Rotation for at least 5 minutes each. You can use your wind from a level down to attack as soon as Rotation is over… I'll just communicate everyone's tasks." The blue eyed girl winked and Temari left.

Hinata and Neji gathered their chakra and approached the enemy. The ink birds disappeared as soon as they started the jutsu and Madara could not do much being trap between the Hyugas in his intangible state. However, in the last minute, the always loyal Zetsu used substitution on the older Uchiha and took the destructive impact of Rotation. As a consequence, Madara landed at the bottom of the valley and watched as the rocks fell. The masked man tried to teleport but his low chakra did not allow it.

Killer Bee and Naruto borrowed the strength of their respective Tailed Beasts. The duo created chakra bombs and aimed to Madara, however, they changed the target after hearing Shikamaru's order of focusing on the Statue. The jutsu did severe damage to the Statue and the impact with the ground destroyed it.

The Hunt down Team surrounded Madara, who seemed as passive as usual. Unaware that his plan failed and that he would be assassinated or taken into custody of the Leaf. "If that's how it's going to be then come to your death." He laughed at the incredulous faces of the young ninja.

Black Zetsu watched the battle from afar and White Zetsu joined him. "Poor Tobi. I almost feel bad for him." The white half sighed. The other Zetsu chuckled. "As if Tobi could be defeated by brats… it's like saying we can die." Both laughed hysterically as they merged and disappeared in the ground. "Let's wait for him in a hideout and wait for the next plan."

As the young ninja were about to attack Madara, Sasuke appeared behind him and drew a kunai. The older Uchiha grabbed the avenger's wrist so the boy electrocuted him. Shikamaru used his shadow to pull Sasuke away before Madara could kill him. Suddenly Hinata, Kiba, Ino and Karin made relieved expressions. Shino and Neji noticed the same as them but their faces remained stoic. Then Sakura used her super human strength to create a disturbance while Gaara formed a sandstorm. Seconds later Temari cleared the area with her wind control and all the older ninja formed a crowd.

Tsunade stood tall with her arms crossed. Kakashi, Guy, Yamato, Kurenai, Shizune and Anko surrounded her. Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza had serious expressions. Every ninja responded to Tsunade's call and they were cornering Madara. The older Uchiha clenched his fists and realized that he lost the battle but the war was still on. A white Zetzu appeared next to him and gave him the chakra he needed to teleport away. "You can have your peace for now, but keep in mind that I will come back and you don't know half of what's coming." His voice echoed after a whirlpool absorbed him to his own dimension.

Itachi's body started to vanish. He made Kabuto release everyone but him. However, it was his time to go. He approached Sasuke while pointing at his face and then with a gentle smile he poked his little brother's forehead. "I love you, foolish little brother." He said closing his eyes.

"You asked them to kill me." Sasuke scowled.

"Well, that doesn't mean I don't love you." The older Uchiha chuckled. "Looks like we'll see each other later on. In the meantime live, atone for you sins and learn to love someone other than yourself." He said jokingly.

"Jerk… I love you too." Sasuke clenched his fists at the thought of his brother leaving once again. "I still have so much to ask you." The avenger's voice broke.

"You'll find out soon enough." Itachi waved and his spirit ascended, leaving an unknown ninja in his place. Shikamaru and Naruto approached him, it was time for his arrest. Sasuke bit his lip to maintain the control of his emotions, grieving for his beloved brother in front of Konoha Shinobi was not an option. The avenger looked for Hinata and saw her hugging Kiba and Shino. Sasuke also noticed that most of the guys sent to retrieve him were all bruised, injured or unconscious. "Serves them right, not that I look better." The Uchiha admitted.

"Sasuke, it's time to go." Naruto extended his hand. Yet, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes and stood up by himself. He put his wrists in front of the blonde, letting them know that he accepted imprisonment. Naruto was about to pat Sasuke's back jokingly but Shikamaru wrapped the Uchiha with his shadow. The Jinchuriki intended to protest until the Nara boy glared at him.

Hinata saw her friends get help from other ninja and shed some tears. She was very grateful that all of them were alive. However, not everything was as she wanted. Shikamaru captured Sasuke and the next step was his trial, obviously he would be found guilty of all charges. If he was lucky Tsunade would exchange death penalty for a life in prison, but if her Clan supported him... Sakura taped her shoulder, bringing her back to reality, and smiled widely. The heiress smiled too but passed out soon after, since the 5 minutes of Rotation were taking their toll.

Seconds later, when everything seemed fine, Hashirama Senju's stone head collapsed due to the damage of Kimmimaro's bones piercing it. The Third's monument received too much damage from Hazashi and Neji's rotation and crumbled to the ground. The Fourth's head was intact but the stone wall that held it was affected by Tenten's explosives. In consequence it fell moments after Tsunade's. The Fifth Hokage's aura turned deadly and her eyes narrowed. The Hunt down Team swallowed saliva and looked away awkwardly.

To Be Continued  
><strong>Excuses so you won't kill me:<strong>

I couldn't kill Madara because it just feels wrong… we still don't know how he ends.

Itachi's second death was complicated but Sasuke is going to mourn for real in the next chapter.

I didn't know the Statue of the Outer Path moved when I made the outline for the story. That's why it is more like a chakra container.

What else? Can't think of anything... see you next chapter.

Thanks for reading.

Saki-Hime: Thank you for the review. I am glad that you like it.


	14. The First Stone for a New Life

Sasuke Hunt down Team: The Fall of Konoha 9

**Happy New Year. I wish you the best and I hope this new cycle brings you only good things, like more Anime, more manga and more fanfics… and love and health too. XD**

At last, here is the last chapter. It was really cool to write for you guys and I really appreciate your patience, the favorites, the follow story and reviews. Thank you for reading and I hope you like the end of the story that started in January 15, 2011 with _Sasuke Hunt down Team._

"**The plot was created before the manga got this far."**

The First Stone for a New Life

Hinata woke up in her room. She felt as if nothing happened, her body did not hurt and her memories were blurry. The girl half opened her eyes and noticed the Hunt down Team members sitting in her cushions or just standing by the door or windows. Sakura was near her bed packing up her medical supplies and then Naruto approached her to kiss her softly in the lips. Hinata smiled to herself, feeling very happy that those two were finally together and feeling proud that she contributed to it. Kiba and Shino were sitting very close to her bed. The Inuzuka boy patted Akamaru absent minded while looking to the roof and the insect manipulator was talking to some bug in whispers. Temari and Shikamaru were near the window. The genius looked lazily in direction to the destroyed monuments and Temari placed her hand on his face to make him look at her. She muttered something like 'Stop thinking about that'. He then smirked and leaned to kiss her. Suddenly Chouji, who had a baby in his arms, stood up from a cushion and intended to leave the room but Temari asked for baby Asuma. Then she gave it to Shikamaru, who covered his nose but took the child nonetheless and left the room with the Suna kunoichi. Ino slept leaning to Sai and the Root member painted a portrait of the blonde. Chouji looked at them and laughed. Lee was near the door performing a youthful dance that was meant to heal Hinata faster. Neji pinched the bridge of his nose, still looking a little pale. Tenten sighed and look at the window, suddenly an expression of fright crossed her face. Hinata did not understand the reaction and did not give it much attention. However, she noticed the absence of Kurotsuchi. They formed a pretty strong bond while looking for Sasuke.

"Sasuke…" She whispered. "He must be awaiting his trial. Maybe Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo were under vigilance too, but that's not fair. They helped us a lot." The girl thought.

"Hinata. I'm glad you are awake." Sakura smiled sweetly. "All of us were so worried. Neji passed out too but recovered 40 minutes later. You've been out for about 12 hours." The pink haired ninja explained.

"I feel dizzy. What happened after Sasuke's arrest?" The heiress asked and the room turned deadly silent. After some minutes Shikamaru appeared with Little Asuma in his arms. "Is his trial over? Did he get the death penalty or is it life in prison?" She gasped. Her heart shrunk and her heartbeat accelerated.

"Well, the judges are reaching a conclusion. But don't get your hopes up, they took our testimony and most of us are not fond of Sasuke. Naruto was the only one to give a long speech about Sasuke being capable of developing the Will of Fire. Tsunade asked him to leave." Shikamaru explained while passing the baby to Temari. "His crimes are just too severe. He attacked the Hokage directly and her most reliable shinobi, he brought the enemy to the village, harassed the elders, attacked our comrades and that's juts in the last 75 hours. Do I need to mention the older crimes?"

It was not necessary because Hinata knew the charges by heart.

"He gave us vital information on Madara and Kabuto's strategy. He was willing to die in order to protect the village… that's about all the defense could find to help him a little." Kurotsuchi appeared by the window. "Besides, Naruto's speech and Sakura's testimony on Sasuke's attack on Madara won over some of the jury. Neji and Hizashi Hyuga claim that executing the traitor won't be punishment enough. They suggest that Sasuke's pride should take a big blow." The Iwa ninja winked at Neji, who frowned and looked aside with a blush. "There is one more thing." The girl looked mischievously at Hinata. "There is the issue of losing the Sharingan, and nobody wants that." Kurotsuchi's smile widened, but Neji looked at her angrily.

"So what does that mean?" Hinata asked anxiously.

"It means you better go with Uchiha, he is being transported to a special prison in the underground level of the Hokage's Tower, or what's left of it." The pink eyed girl pointed at the door.

Hinata jumped off her bed and rushed out of the Hyuga complex. She arrived to the Hokage's building still in her pajamas and passed by the Shinobi guards. They noticed her and tried to stop her, however, she evaded them with ease. Suddenly a pair of ANBU materialized in front of her. Hinata stopped on her tracks. There was no way she could go against them. Shikamaru caught up with her and pat her back. "She has some business with the prisoner. Let her through, thanks to her we got him peacefully." He said lazily and the ANBU moved aside. Hinata continued with her race to the special cell with the help of her Byakugan. She descended the stairs, made a left turn, more stairs, a right turn, more stairs and finally, at the end of the hallway a huge iron door blocked her way. Beyond it, Sasuke talked to the Hokage. Their argument seemed violent, both of them had tense stances, clenched fists and yelled quite often. Several minutes later Sasuke hit the wall and nodded.

Tsunade called Kakashi and Kurenai. The two ninja drew a very complicated symbol in the floor and walls, Hinata recognized it as a sealing jutsu. Guy stepped forward to hold the avenger as Kurenai drew a chain of symbols in his face and eyelids. Kakashi made the proper hand-signs so that random lightning columns filled the room and closed dangerously to Sasuke. The symbols, drew with blood, got absorbed by the young Uchiha's eyes and the columns merged in his head.

Shizune gave Sasuke a physical examination in case he was hurt, but the boy did not take damage. Tsunade approached him, whispered some words and called her ninja to leave with her. The door opened. Hinata found herself staring at Tsunade, then her gaze shifted to Kakashi and Kurenai. They nodded reassuringly and moved so she could enter the prison. "Make it quick. This is a punishment; he's not supposed to be happy." Tsunade glared at the girl and left the room.

Sasuke saw Hinata at the door. He smirked as in saying 'Took you long enough.' But the heiress ignored the slight annoyance she felt at the thought. The prisoner stood up and approached the girl. He was very glad to see her and intended to demonstrate it. Hinata's face turned red. It was the first time they were alone in a peaceful time, they were not enemies and they were not in the middle of a war. It was a very nice feeling. However, it was interrupted by two ANBU that closed the iron doors.

The Hyuga heiress pouted, yet she did not feel sad. "It's comforting that I can come and see you every day and if you behave I may get permission to stay longer." She whispered and gave Sasuke a small kiss in the lips.

"Tsk, don't tell me what to do." Sasuke said jokingly. At first, he brushed her lips and bit the lower one. This made the girl smile and she deepened the kiss, taking Sasuke aback. His hands traveled to Hinata's lower back and hers rose to his neck. They moved a little and bumped into the concrete wall. Hinata moved one of her hands to the back of his neck to reach his hair while the other grabbed his shoulder. Sasuke smirked and his arms tightened around the girl's waist, soon after they moved to her sides. The prisoner's mouth felt really good and his tongue caressed the girl's palate, giving her a ticklish sensation.

"Hinata, the visit is over." Tsunade growled.

The girl let go of the Uchiha and turned different shades of red. It was the second time Tsunade saw her in that situation and that was not doing anything good for the heiress' nerves. "I.. I suppose I should g.. go." She turned from Tsunade to Sasuke and vice versa, not knowing if she was allowed to kiss him good bye. At the end she decided to walk with Tsunade and wave.

"It's gonna be a long stay." The blue haired boy sighed. The simple thought of being a prisoner of Konoha was a huge hit to his pride, especially because he could not destroy it at the end. He could have, by not telling Hinata any information and dying for the sake of Madara's plan. Somehow, facing death, made him think of Hinata and her words about the love for her village. "That girl will be the end of me, but I can't help it. I just don't want her away." He thought. Not that he would say it out loud or he would never hear the end of it. The only person that would know was Hinata.

Kiba was waiting for Hinata outside the Hokage Tower. He smiled sweetly ad punched her arm playfully. "You left us alone to face Tsunade's wrath and take the blame for the Monuments. We are supposed to help with the reconstruction but the new design it's actually pretty cool. We will carve their full bodies in the stone wall. It's going to be too much work." Kiba covered his eyes in anticipation.

"I'm sorry. I will work hard too." Hinata covered her mouth. She felt bad for abandoning her teammates.

"It's a joke. Tusnade was pissed but we will live." He grinned.

The following months passed fast. Hinata visited Sasuke when she was not in a mission or helping in the monuments. With Sasuke's tranquil behavior and constant cooperation to figure out Madara's whereabouts, his visits time was extended. Naruto visited him as much as Hinata did. During their first meeting Sasuke was reluctant to talk but Naruto insisted and when they made eye contact the special power Itachi gave him took effect. Sasuke froze in the spot, his fists clenched and his body trembled involuntarily. Soon after, the Uchiha covered his face and tears leaked through his fingers. Itachi left his memories to his little brother, so that he could understand him better and forgive him for the massacre. Somehow, Itachi wanted to make Sasuke understand that his hatred for the village was a mistake and that following the path of vengeance would never allow him to be happy. Naruto understood the situation and left Sasuke to mourn for his beloved brother, not even Hinata wanted to disturb him. All the last Uchiha needed was time with himself to assimilate Itachi's gift.

The Hunt down Team continued with their lives after Sasuke's arrest and Madara's escape. Shikamaru took a long mission to Sunagakure. The Shinobi Alliance opened the door of cooperation among the Villages. However, the rivalries could not disappear in such a short time. The Kages sent ambassadors to secure the bonds. Shikamaru spent several months learning about Temari's village, with the excuse of observing the project. Yet he hardly left Temari's side and both of them returned to Konoha. Sakura and Ino trained young medic ninja in their effort to increase the rate of survival of the teams and Karin helped them, she was adapting pretty fast to the life in Konoha. Suigetsu and Jugo, convinced by Karin, helped with the reconstruction of the Village and realized that Konoha was not an awful place and started to enjoy life there. Neji and Tenten formalized, they said that life was too short and being ninja meant that their lives were half shorter. The news of their relationship were well received, and when confronted with the possibility of her children bearing the Branch House Mark Tenten sighed and told Hizashi that she was ok with that. Her children would not be targets of a kidnaper. Naruto promised that he would change things when he became Hokage and Hinata said she would support him with the issue. Kiba, Shino, Chouji and Lee went on very difficult missions and due to their great results Tsunade put them in the hands of Kakashi and Yamato for their new training. They strengthened their bond as they surpassed every test and got closer to their promising futures. Sai, as a ROOT member, tried to put order in Danzo's organization. At the end he decided to incorporate them to the ANBU and prevent the new recruits to exchange their emotions for efficiency. Even Kurotsuchi decided to extend her visit to Konoha and she smiled sheepishly and looked at Shino when Hinata asked her for her reason to stay.

One day after working in the stone wall, Hinata bumped into Ino. The blonde hugged her. "How's everything going with Sasuke? You know, the whole relationship between the sweet Hyuga heiress and the ruthless Uchiha avenger seems wrong but I think it's actually very hot." The girl winked, poking Hinata's ribs.

"Um, thank you. I… I am going to visit him now." Hinata tried to fight her blush.

"Go pretty yourself up and make his imprisonment more enjoyable." Ino whispered. "You should take care of his most basic needs." The Yamanaka girl squealed. "I'll tell him, you do your thing." She rushed to the Tower. Hinata thought about Ino's words and decided to take the advice so she spent several hours at home getting everything ready. At the same time Sasuke received Ino's news with shock, not believing her words. The blonde giggled.

Later that night Hinata approached the prison with a nervous look, she wasn't sure if Sasuke would like what she prepared for him. The ANBU at the iron door waved at the girl and let her pass, they were used to her already. Sasuke saw the heiress and shook his head with a smile. There was no way Ino was telling the truth, but then Hinata said the words. "I have a surprise for you." She blushed. "Ino told me that I should take care of your most basic needs so here I am." The ANBU were listening attentively through the door. Sasuke chocked and his eyes widened with surprise.

"I heard Prison food is awful so I baked you some chocolate cakes. I hope you like them." She pushed a basket to him. "Eating is a basic need, without proper nutrition you won't have strength when you are liberated." She winked and kissed his cheek. Sasuke hated sweets but ate them nonetheless and the ANBU were disappointed.

**The End**

**Excuses so you won't kill me:**

I thought Shino needed some love and Kurotsuchi is perfect for him (in my crazy head.)

Kiba, Chouji and Lee get girlfriends eventually.

Neji and Tenten… I just love that couple. Don't worry, Naruto will ban the course mark before they have their kids.

I seriously thought that the power Itachi left to Naruto was like a message for Sasuke to make him reason. I know, silly me.

I think that's about it. I hope you liked it.


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